Contractor General Greg Christie Submits Final Annual Report to Parliament and Satisfactorily Clears all Statutory OCG Annual Audits

In compliance with Section 28 (2) of the Contractor General Act, outgoing Contractor General, Greg Christie, has now submitted, to Parliament, his final Annual Report – the Twenty-Fifth (25^th) Annual Report of the Contractor General of Jamaica, for calendar year 2011.

The Contractor General, who was appointed into office effective December 1, 2005, by former Jamaica Governor General, Sir Howard Cooke, and whose seven year (7) term in office will come to an end on November 30, 2012, has long signified his intention not to seek nor to accept an extension to his current term in office.

One hundred and ten (110) copies of the Contractor General’s Report were this morning submitted by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG), to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the President of the Senate, in the care of the good offices of the Clerk to the Houses of Parliament, Mrs. Heather E. Cooke.

Section 28 (3) of the Contractor General Act mandates that the Report must now be laid in both Houses of Parliament “as soon as possible”.

As is customary, once the Annual Report has been tabled in both Houses of Parliament, the OCG will convey hard copies of same to all Permanent Secretaries, the heads of major public sector agencies, members of the media fraternity, local private sector organizations, tertiary educational institutions, civil society organizations, multilateral financial institutions, international organizations, diplomatic representations in Jamaica, and other OCG stakeholders.

The complete contents of the Contractor General’s 1021 page Annual Report will also be published by the OCG, in electronic format, on its official website at www.ocg.gov.jm, but only after the Report has been tabled in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.

And the final Statutory Annual Audit of the OCG’s financial, accounting and procurement practices, under the leadership of the outgoing Contractor General, which was conducted by the Auditor General, has, once again, revealed a satisfactory state of affairs at the OCG.

In keeping with the requirements of Section 27 (1) of the Contractor General Act, a comprehensive ten (10) day Risk-Based Audit of the OCG’s accounts, its financial transactions, its procurements, its asset and personnel management activities, and its corporate governance/risk management policies, for the financial year ended March 31, 2012, was conducted by a three (3) person team from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) between September 13 and 26, 2012.

The Audit sought to verify, among other things, whether adequate financial and accounting management controls were in place at the OCG, and whether the OCG was in compliance with relevant established Government guidelines, regulations and laws.

The OAG, in its preliminary Audit Inspection Report, dated October 12, 2012, has found “a generally satisfactory state of affairs” at the OCG, and has made only one (1) recommendation which, by way of letter dated October 3, 2012, the OCG had already proactively adopted. The recommendation was that the OCG should “draft and seek approval for a salary advance policy”.

A review of the Auditor General’s Reports, for the preceding years of the incumbent Contractor General’s tenure, will also reveal that the OCG’s accounting records and financial transactions, in respect of those years, have consistently reflected a generally satisfactory state of affairs at the OCG, with no material or outstanding deviations from established Government guidelines, regulations or laws.

The OCG also takes pride in the fact that, despite its budgetary and operating constraints, its financial, accounting and procurement affairs have been consistently administered in a prudent, efficient and responsible manner such that, under the tenure of the incumbent Contractor General, it has never, in any financial year, exceeded its approved annual and supplementary budgets and, in every such financial year, has returned, to the Consolidated Fund, a surplus amount.

Note: Greg Christie

Contractor General Greg Christie will demit office by November.

Mr. Christie reportedly wrote to Governor General Patrick Allen advising him that he will not seek or accept an extension of his initial seven year term in office.

The letter was delivered to King’s House on Thursday March 15 and was copied to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate, among other State officials.

The contractor General expressed his sincere gratitude to the Governor General and Jamaicans who are urging him to remain in office beyond November 30.