THE private company contracted to supply 200 pre-owned motor vehicles to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has failed to deliver the vehicles on time, causing embarrassment to the Government.

The company — Obrien’s International Car Sales Rentals Limited — was in January this year awarded a $426.9-million contract to supply the 200 pre-owned motor vehicles for the constabulary. However, only 30 of the vehicles were delivered in June after the 90-day delivery period had expired, Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) heard yesterday.

In the meantime, a question was raised as to whether the Jamaica Customs Agency was given an urgent directive to clear an additional 66 vehicles from the wharves yesterday which were imported on behalf of the police by Obrien’s International Car Sales Rentals Limited. The clearance of the 66 vehicles would require the payment of $16 million in taxes, which would be the responsibility; of the importer.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Diane McIntosh, when quizzed by parliamentarians about the clearance of the 66 vehicles and the payment of the $16 million in taxes, said the ministry would be seeking advice from the Attorney General’s Department. According to the ministry, it has been advised by the Ministry of Finance to go ahead with the general consumption tax (GCT) payments on the vehicles and seek to recoup those costs later.

At the same time, an update submitted to the PAAC outlining the activities under the contract, which was awarded in January, revealed that the finance ministry had initially rejected a request by the national security ministry to waive the taxes on the vehicles.

In June, Obrien’s imported 30 of the vehicles — after the 90-day delivery period had expired — and a week later asked the security ministry for a three-month extension to deliver the remaining units.

Less than a month before that extension would have expired the company again wrote to the security ministry asking that the GCT and special consumption tax (SCT) being charged by Jamaica Customs on the vehicles be paid by the ministry as they were “unable to absorb the costs”.

According to the Ministry of National Security’s update, which was read into the committee’s records yesterday: “In an internal meeting subsequent to this, the decision was taken that the ministry will not bear these costs as it is the obligation of the contractor to pay the relevant duties and taxes associated with the clearance of the vehicles. Notwithstanding, the decision was taken that a final attempt will be made by the ministry to assist the process by requesting a waiver from the Ministry of Finance for the taxes to be waived. On November 2, 2017 the Ministry of Finance advised that the request was not supported”.

The finance ministry then wrote to Obrien’s, demanding that the vehicles be delivered no later than November 24, 2017 and that failing to meet this deadline “will result in the ministry taking the necessary actions in keeping with the terms of the contract”.

“My question to you is ‘who has changed their minds, and on what basis’?” PAAC Chairman Dr Wykeham McNeill asked.

“We don’t have anything in writing about a change of mind; I’m just telling you that this morning we heard that discussion from Customs, we don’t have anything in writing. We are about to write to the Attorney General to guide us. We have that letter to move to the Attorney General now,” McIntosh stated. “I want to make it very clear it is not that we were about to pay anything,” she added. She repeatedly insisted that the contract had not been altered to suit Obrien’s.

North West Manchester Member of Parliament Mikael Phillips (Opposition) argued that there was some dereliction of responsibility in the procurement process. “The other suppliers would not have gotten the same treatment. What this would say to me is that the contract has just been altered as we go along, which is not correct…you can’t put the cart before the horse because we are in a desperate situation,” he said.

Director of Procurement in the Minsitry of National Security Milton Morrison explained that Obrien’s had said that it “inadvertently” left the tax costs out of its final price for the vehicles. “The Ministry of Finance is of the view that the Ministry of National Security ought to pay the GCT and SCT on the vehicles and that it is a requirement by law [and that] under the contract it would have been charged to the ministry on the invoices by the supplier. Unfortunately the supplier inadvertently left these taxes out of the final cost,” he said. Morrison also further pointed out that Obrien’s remained the lowest of the four bidders, even after adding the taxes to the final contract cost.

The Government has already paid Obrien’s $213 million of the contract sum, and the value of the 30 vehicles that have arrived so far amount to $46 million.

National Security Minister Robert Montague and then-Opposition Spokesman of Security Peter Bunting clashed on the issue months ago when the Government announced its intention to beef up the JCF’s fleet with pre-owned vehicles. Bunting took issue with the selection of Obrien’s to supply the vehicles, questioning whether due diligence had been conducted to determine the company’s capability to fulfil such a large order.