KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) has called on the Government to adequately fund the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) following media reports on the financial challenges facing the agency.

According to a statement, PSOJ president William Mahfood said “the government must ensure that bodies such as the OCG, INDECOM and the Public Defender are always adequately funded”.

Mahfood explained that “failure to properly fund these organisations compromise the rights of citizens and the accountability of those charged with managing public funds”.

“Parliament had a moral responsibility to adequately fund these offices, especially since any delay can be construed as the government trying to deliberately restrict the activities of the OCG and other bodies, which are to hold them accountable,” he added.

The PSOJ said it also notes that because of this inadequate funding, the OCG can only review ten per cent of government contracts.

“We are confident that it could never be the intention of Parliament to restrict the operations of the OCG and call on them to immediately rectify this situation, so that Jamaica can be assured of transparency and accountability in public sector spending,” the statement added.