Integrity Commission finds KSAMC in breach of procurement guidelines

THE Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) has been called out by the Integrity Commission for breaches of Government procurement guidelines related to the award of a contract 10 years ago to Knightsman Security for services at the Downtown Kingston Transport Centre..

In a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday regarding the investigation which commenced in April 2015, the director of investigations for the commission, Kevon Stephenson urged the KSAMC to stick to public procurement guidelines and to ensure that all its contracts are in black and white.

The probe, initiated by the Office of the Contractor General (now subsumed along with two other anti-corruption agencies into the Integrity Commission), sought to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the alleged award of a contract to Knightsman by the then Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) for provision of security services at the transport centre for 2010/2011, and a debt to the company of just over $13 million.

It was found that in February 2011 the KSAC invited the company to provide services at the transport centre, and that similar letters were addressed to Atlas Protection Limited, Modern Investigation and security, Ranger Protection and Security, and the Guardsman Group. KSAC told the commission that it found no evidence to suggest that these letters were actually dispatched to the companies.

The commission said the process by which Knightsman provided security services at the transport centre was contrary to the Government’s procurement guidelines and said there were irregularities in the process under which the company provided those services, including the absence of a formal tender process; no set criteria for bidders; no evaluation methodology; no specifications for the provision of services. The report outlined that there was no evidence of a written contract between the KSAC and Knightsman Security.

The commission also found that, up to March 2012, the company had not been paid in full for providing the service, and furthermore, the KSAC had terminated its services, despite the unpaid debt.

According to the report, the KSAC signed an agreement with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) which obligated the UDC to implement any necessary security measures and all payments and expenses related to the transportation centre, but the KSAC, having at first said the UDC was responsible to compensate Knightsman, had ultimately accepted the liability.

The commission advised that the KSAC had sought to pay the $13.7 million in two parts, and legal costs of $1.5 million to Knightsman, but the company had rejected that proposal and the KSAC then agreed to a “one-off” payment of $13.729 million, as evidenced by a January 2016 voucher.

The KSAC had previously paid $7.59 million to Knightsman between December 2010 and December 2011.