‘I did no wrong’

PRIMEMinister Andrew Holness last night rejected the Integrity Commission’s suggestion of conflict of interest on his part in the awarding of contracts to a company owned by a friend of his, 14 years ago when he was education minister, and said he will do all in his power “to ensure that the truth is known”.

Holness was responding to the commission’s report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday referring him to the director of corruption prosecution for “consideration with respect to breaches of the Contractor General Act” in relation to contracts awarded to Westcon Construction Limited between February 2007 and November 2009.

The commission has also referred the National Works Agency (NWA) and the Social Development Commission (SDC) to the director of corruption prosecution in the same matter, pointing out that the NWA awarded 34 contracts to Westcon, while the SDC awarded two contracts to the company.

In its report, the Integrity Commission said its director of investigation had probed allegations that contracts had been awarded to Westcon and that there is a connection and/or relationship between Holness and the proprietors, Robert Garvin and Donovan Simpson.

According to the commission, the investigation sought to ascertain,inter alia, (a) the nature and particulars of Government contracts that were awarded to Westcon Construction during the relevant period; (b) the nature and extent of the relationship between Holness and the directors of Westcon; (c) the extent of the involvement, if any, of Holness in the award of Government contracts to Westcon; (d) whether the circumstances surrounding the award of contracts and/or the process(es) utilised by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI), the NWA, and the SDC was devoid of irregularity and impropriety and was fair and transparent.

The commission said it found that a total of 10 contracts were awarded by the Ministry of Education to Westcon during the period February 14, 2007 and November 10, 2009.

Of the 10 contracts, only five were reported to the Office of the Contractor General by way of the education ministry’s quarterly contract award (QCA) reports for the period.

The commission said that the direct contracting procurement methodology was utilised in one instance, and it was disclosed by the MOEYI that the criteria for the “lowest responsive tender” was utilised in the remaining nine instances.

“The 10 contracts awarded by the MOEYI were between the contract values of $1,413,439.00 and $3,360,650.00 and had a cumulative value of $21,882,491.00,” the commission said.

It also reported that by way of a statutory requisition dated May 17, 2017, it sought to ascertain whether Holness (a) had knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the award of contract to Westcon by the Ministry of Education, (b) played any role or executed any functions in respect of the award of contracts to Westcon, and (c) made any decisions or gave any directives in relation to the process for the award of contracts to the company.

In his response to the requisition, Holness had said, “…I am not aware of the circumstances surrounding the award of GOJ contracts to the entity Westcon Construction Limited by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information during the period 2007 to 2009.”

He also said that as the then minister of education, he “performed no role in the award of the contracts listed …to Westcon Construction Limited…”

Last night Holness, in what he claimed was his initial comments after a preliminary review of the Integrity Commission report, said that in his response to the commission’s queries he had “made it absolutely clear that at no time have I ever exercised influence on any process for the award of contracts”.

“I strongly disagree with the findings of the Integrity Commission regarding conflict of interest based on mere association,” the prime minister said, adding, “The failure of agencies to comply with various procurement rules cannot be attributed to me in any capacity and we note that the report does not make such a conclusion.”

He said it has been a long-standing practice that Members of Parliament are asked to recommend local contractors to undertake works in their constituencies as a practical matter.

“This practice was introduced during the 1990s and has continued across multiple administrations since. Furthermore, it is also the practice that constituency project officers for the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) are recommended by the Member of Parliament,” Holness said.

“It is not unusual that CDF projects officers are persons who are already working in the constituency organisation and are associated with the MP. I am certain that a review of local works and CDF projects officers will find that MP recommendations feature significantly in a vast number of them, and this has never been cited as exercising undue influence,” he argued.

He said the Integrity Commission’s report “also ignores the circumstances of an emergency where in 2008 the Christmas work programme was late in starting and workers faced a high probability of not being paid. I was asked to recommend an entity to facilitate payment of the Christmas work programme before the close of business for the Christmas holidays. This was done in good faith. To see this being targeted and made into something it is not, is gravely disappointing”.

He said he “strongly” disagrees with some of the findings of the report and has referred it to his lawyers, adding “I, and the Government I lead, remain strongly committed to tackling corruption in our country. The processes of doing so must, however, be practical, balanced, and fair to all concerned.”

In an earlier response to the development, the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) said it is “appalled by the unprecedented news” that the prime minister has been referred to the director of corruption prosecution “for possible charges in a multimillion-dollar corruption probe”.

“This revelation exposes the country to international embarrassment. A head of Government should be beyond reproach, and it is unacceptable that he has been besmirched by accusations of impropriety,” Opposition Leader Mark Golding said.

“That the country’s principal integrity and anti-corruption body has found sufficient evidence to refer our prime minister for potential prosecution places Jamaica in an untenable position,” he added.

“The Opposition believes the implications of the report to be potentially crippling for the Government. The international community and multilateral agencies will have significant misgivings about dealing with a country whose head of Government has the implications of this situation hanging over his head,” Golding said.