KINGSTON, Jamaica — The government has addressed concerns over payment delays in the Christmas work programme.

Minister with responsibility for Works, Robert Morgan, has attributed the issues to late submissions of bills and incomplete work by some contractors.

The programme, which funds clean-up and mitigation projects across constituencies, has come under scrutiny following complaints from the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP).

The PNP accused the government of failing to deliver on its promises, with Opposition Spokesman for Road and Works Richard Azan calling for immediate payments and transparency. “These workers have completed their tasks in good faith, yet they are left unpaid during what should be a season of joy. The government must honor its commitments,” Azan stated in a news release.

Minister Morgan addressed this stating that “There have been instances where some contractors associated with some constituencies submitted their bills late and some did not submit any bills at all. And the NWA (National Works Agency), as well as its parish offices, has to validate every single work that is done in order to ensure that the payment is based on the work done”.

Morgan while speaking with Observer Online, explained that “In some cases, the payments were requested and when the agents went out or looked at the validation, the work was not commensurate with the payment that was being requested.”

Morgan accused Azan of playing politics.

“He (Azan) knows very well that there are persons among his membership who did not submit their documents on time and did not submit their programmes on time. We cannot pay for work that was not done. We cannot pay for work that was not done properly. I suspect Mr Azan may want to advise some of his colleagues to engage themselves in some procurement training and some accountability training so that those who may not have been able to complete or submit the thing properly can do so in the future,” said Morgan.

He congratulated and commended those who worked on the project and announced plans for a post-holiday assessment to streamline the programme. He outlined measures to improve contractors’ understanding of procurement rules and document submission processes, aiming to prevent similar delays in the future.

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