OCG to Review Jamaica 50th Independence Anniversary Procurement Expenditures
Kingston; August 31, 2012 – In keeping with the discharge of its mandates under the Contractor General Act, the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) has written to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Culture, Mr. Robert Martin, to request documents to enable it to review the procurement related expenditures that were associated with the recent Jamaica 50th Independence Anniversary Celebrations.
The OCG’s decision was prompted by its receipt of allegations of irregular and improper Government spending, and “nepotism”, in respect of the Independence Celebrations in the United Kingdom, as well as what has been reported to be the public disquiet which has arisen over the alleged lack of information regarding the Government’s expenditures on the said United Kingdom based Celebrataions. The OCG’s review will also seek to ascertain whether ‘value for money’ was obtained in the referenced procurements.
In its letters to the Permanent Secretary, that were dated August 24 and 29, 2012, the OCG has requested a copy of the approved budget for the Jamaica 50 Anniversary Celebrations, together with a full accounting in respect of each budget line item to include (a) the particulars of all contracts that were awarded, (b) the names of the respective contractors, (c) the values of the respective contracts, (d) the procurement methodologies that were utilized and, (e) the locations at which the contracts were performed.
The Ministry has also been specifically required to particularize all Jamaica 50 goods, services and works procurement expenditures which were associated with the country’s United Kingdom based Independence Celebrations, inclusive of the following:
(a) the alleged one million pounds sterling (£1,000,000) which was expended on the London based Independence Celebrations;
(b) air transportation expenditures from Jamaica to the United Kingdom and back; and
(c) accommodation expenditures within the United Kingdom.
The Ministry is required to satisfy the OCG’s requisitions by Friday, September 7, 2012. Both of the OCG’s letters to the Permanent Secretary were copied to the Hon. Lisa Hanna, the Minister of Youth and Culture, and to Mr. Robert Bryan, the Project Director of the Jamaica 50 Secretariat. In the interest of public transparency, the OCG will table the results of its review in Parliament.
