Contractor General, Greg Christie, in delivering the Seventh Annual Lecture in the Caribbean International Network (CIN) Lecture Series in New York last night, chronicled several reasons which substantiate his view that there is a lack of Political Will to seriously fight corruption in public contracting in Jamaica.

In a 90 minute presentation, which was delivered to members of the Jamaican and Caribbean Diaspora, at the historic Schomburg Center in Harlem, the Contractor General cited, among other things, critical deficiencies that have existed in the Contractor General Act for 28 years, which no Administration had seen it fit to fix.

In particular, Mr. Christie alluded to the failure of the State to entrench the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) in the Constitution of Jamaica to protect it from political interference, to give the OCG the power to halt a Government contracting process that was exhibiting signs of corruption or irregularity, and to increase the sanctions for criminal offences under the Act.

He also chronicled a slew of obstacles which he has had to face in the discharge of his mandates under the Contractor General Act. Among these, he alluded to the Administration’s double standard on the issue of State asset divestments, attempts at intimidation and politicization of the OCG, the lack of prosecutions regarding matters that had been referred by the OCG to the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the failure on the part of Public Bodies, earlier in his tenure, to comply with the lawful requisitions of the OCG.

In his wide-ranging address, the Contractor General also listed over 25 formal remedial recommendations which he said had been made by the OCG to the Legislative and the Executive arms of the State, but which, to date, had been essentially ignored.

The recommendations, Mr. Christie said,  had been made in a concerted and diligent effort, on the part of the OCG, (a) to significantly enhance transparency, competition, accountability and probity in public contracting in Jamaica, (b) to ensure compliance with the Government’s Procurement Procedures and Guidelines, (c) to eliminate waste and inefficiency in the award and implementation of contracts, (d) to prevent fraud and corruption in Government contracting, (e) to strengthen the independence of the OCG, and (f) to generally win the battle against corruption in Jamaica.

Mr. Christie said that if the OCG’s recommendations had been given priority attention, and speedily and comprehensively implemented by successive Administrations, they would have already radically reshaped the entire landscape of the Jamaican Public Sector contract award processes.

He said that tremendous value would have accrued to the Taxpayers and the People of Jamaica – not only in the reduction of waste and corruption – but also in the form of enhanced transparency, probity, accountability, competition and value for money, in the award of lucrative Government contracts.

I n his closing remarks, the Contractor General, who said that he would be demitting office in November next year, warned that “the destiny of the OCG, and whether and to what extent Jamaica will succeed, in the fight to secure integrity, transparency and accountability in the award of its public contracts, and to root out the scourge of corruption from its midst, is a destiny which remains firmly in the hands of the Government, the Parliament and, ultimately, in the hands of the Jamaican People.”

“Make no mistake about it. The problems and the challenges that I have sought to overview with you tonight, which have confronted the OCG and me, will persist as long as the OCG’s many remedial recommendations continue to be ignored.

They will remain with us until and unless the OCG is granted independent criminal investigatory powers, independent prosecutorial powers, police powers of arrest, and the power to halt or to regularize a Government contracting process that is exhibiting the signs of corruption, impropriety or irregularity.

In the interim, grave harm is being caused, and will continue to be caused to Jamaica, by the failure of successive Administrations to act decisively, proactively and aggressively on the afore-stated matters, and to do what is right by Jamaica, versus doing that which is right by the measuring stick of political expedience.”, Mr. Christie said.

The Contractor General’s presentation will be rebroadcast on CIN-TV, and will reach more than two million Caribbean-Americans who live in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut Tri-State area.

Over the past six (6) years, the CIN Lecture Series has presented individuals of unique achievement and superior commitment to the political, economic and social advancement of the Caribbean region. Past presenters include two former Jamaican Prime Ministers, P.J. Patterson and Edward Seaga; UCLA Professor, Robert Hill; the late UWI distinguished Professor, Rex Nettleford; Lowell Hawthorne, CEO of Golden Krust Restaurants; and R.G. Thwaites, author, attorney and broadcaster.