KINGSTON, Jamaica — Technocrats in the Ministry of Health and Wellness could face questions from a Parliamentary committee about contractual arrangements with public relations consultancy Market Me Jamaica next week.

Chairman of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee(PAAC) Dr Wykeham McNeill made the suggestion earlier today at a meeting of the committee at Gordon House in downtown Kingston.

“Given all that’s going on, I think it is incumbent on us as a committee to look into the Ministry of Health with the Market Me contracts,” Dr McNeill said.

The ministry has sought to defend the contracts it entered into with the company between 2016 and June last year for the Jamaica Moves campaign, and the $13 million deemed to be outside of those contracts.

Documents released by the ministry on Tuesday chronicling the ministry’s expenditure on activities relating to the Market Me consultancy, showed that the health ministry paid $13.3 million to the company between March 2017 and July 2020 for services outside of what was agreed upon in the awarded contracts.

The services reportedly provided by the company included, inter alia: New Year’s cards for portfolio minister Dr Christopher Tufton, consultancy for the minister’s sectoral presentation, Christmas cards, media coverage for the ministry, marketing for the minister’s sectoral debate, and social media live updates and photographic coverage services for the Western Regional Health Authority’s dengue clean-up.

Permanent Secretary, Dunstan Bryan, who would be the main representative at the PAAC sitting as the chief accounting officer, explained at a recent press conference that the ministry chose to use a private contractor instead of its own public relations arm for the campaign because the terms of the contract were for social marketing, and was not a strictly public relations initiative.

The direct contracting method was utilised.

Alphea Saunders