It has come to the attention of Jamaica Observer Limited that certain recent publications including that of the 26th October 2017 may have contained false and misleading statements regarding Millenium Security Limited (MSL).

In the article published on October 26, 2017 statements were published from a release which quoted Opposition spokesman on transport and works Mikael Phillips, as stating that the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) board had breached government procurement guidelines by awarding a contract valued at over $50,000,000 to MSL.

MSL states that there is currently no contract between the said parties. MSL was engaged by the JUTC under a six-month pilot project and upon providing satisfactory and timely results, the company was granted four more contracts each of which only lasted one month. At no point during the period of the pilot project was a $50-million disbursement made to MSL.

Further, MSL wishes to categorically state that Owen Ellington, the brother of director and chairman of the Finance Committee of JUTC Clement Ellington, is in no way involved in the management or ownership of MSL and therefore is not an “interested party” in the company. MSL therefore rejects and denies any suggestion of cronyism in any transaction or dealings with JUTC. MSL was engaged because it proved itself able to provide the services required by the JUTC which were well absorbed into the structure of the JUTC at the time. Whilst engaged, MSL saw results such as:

a) significant improvement in worker attendance

b) significant reduction in theft of spare parts, oils and lubricants

c) significant reduction in claims for overtime.

Attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman, who represents MSL and Owen Ellington, criticised the Opposition spokesman for his irresponsible, false and inaccurate statements regarding his clients and stated that MSL welcomes the probe of the contractor general as it has nothing to hide and welcomes the publishing of its findings as soon as possible.

Jamaica Observer Limited apologises to MSL for the publication of any inaccurate or misleading information.