Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown has written to Prime Minister Andrew Holness regarding the controversial $606-million de-bushing programme, which the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) has deemed lacked transparency in the selection of contractors by Cabinet, and which it said breached Government procurement guidelines.

Parchment Brown, in a letter dated July 10, made a number of recommendations to the prime minister, including that the National Works Agency (NWA) should be made to submit to Cabinet and the Opposition monthly status updates on the $3-billion major road works being carried out under the programme.

“I am advised that the works which are being conducted in 26 constituencies, of which 24 with a value of $2.8 billion are represented by Jamaica Labour Party, and two constituencies with a value of $190 million are represented by the People’s National Party,” the political ombudsman said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Jamaica Observer.

She stated further: “It is uncertain whether this disproportionality in constituency choices is a mere coincidence reflecting the priorities established by the NWA after technical review, or by less transparent and reliable criteria, which we ask that you include as a factor in the monitoring of the works and updates recommended.”

She noted that People’s National Party General Secretary Julian Robinson had lodged a complaint with her office about the road work projects.

Parchment Brown insisted that the large sums of money being paid out by NWA contractors as outlined in the special OCG report, without the required verification of works and costs and in the absence of the input of the National Contracts Commission, should be “condemned and repudiated.

“It is my recommendation that politicians, their representatives, facilitators, or friends have no role in the grant or implementation of government projects,” she insisted.

She advised that in future, Cabinet should ensure that the approval and management of public works are fully compliant with the laws and policies of the country and the agreement and declaration on political conduct, to avoid: breaches of procurement guidelines; permitting profit margins to contractors in excess of the standard; permitting middle persons outside of the procurement bodies to receive and distribute payments under contracts; and parliamentarians and ministers playing “special” roles in the operation of contracts.

Referring specifically to a statement made by head of the NWA, EG Hunter in his interview with the OCG during its probe, that he had not found Cabinet’s decision to select the five contractors as “sufficiently egregious that I would reject it”, the political ombudsman said public servants should be allowed to carry out their work under the rule of law and good governance.

Given the seriousness of the findings in the report, with Contractor General Dirk Harrison expressing uncertainty over whether three members of the Cabinet were lying in their responses about influencing contractors, Parchment Brown called on Prime Minister Holness to implement her recommendations, as well as those she had made to him last month, regarding Labour Day projects.

The political ombudsman is proposing that a joint parliamentary committee be convened urgently to agree on and publish protocols consistent with good governance, the rule of law, democracy, and the relevant section of the agreement and declaration on political conduct and non-partisanism.

Parchment Brown cautioned that complaints about public funds political tribalism — during and outside of election periods — have been replacing those about violence, which marked the 2002 to 2012 period.

The recommendations were copied to Robinson and the ruling Jamaica Labour Party General Secretary Dr Horace Chang.