Dangerous precedent

Accountability advocates are warning that accepting good intentions as justification for breaching procurement laws could undermine Jamaica’s system of public administration, following an auditor general’s finding that senior government minister Daryl Vaz improperly acquired 200 Starlink devices after Hurricane Melissa.

Jeanette Calder, executive director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP), said that while she does not question Vaz’s sincerity, endorsing his actions would create a precedent allowing public officials to disregard the law whenever urgency is claimed.

She argued that if the country and the head of government, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, accepted Vaz’s explanation as justification for the procurement breaches, then the entire public administration framework could collapse.

Calder is of the view that if the minister’s infraction is not reproved, it would send a signal that any government official can violate laws by claiming good intentions and urgency.

“On what legal basis would the prime minister reject their claims if he accepts Minister Vaz’s?” she questioned.

Further, the JAMP executive director asked: “Why shouldn’t sincerity obstruct a permanent secretary from disciplining a public servant who violates the Staff Orders? The laws would be rendered meaningless.”

Her comments follow a compliance audit tabled in Parliament last week, in which Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis found that Vaz breached procurement rules by bypassing established procedures to acquire 200 Starlink devices. The report also stated that weeks after the acquisition, at least 121 of the devices were not being used.

Principal Director of National Integrity Action (NIA), Dr Gavin Myers, said he was surprised that while the communication tools remained unused, there was demonstrable need that was not met. He added that the public should have been informed about the criteria or needs assessment used in the allocation of the devices to ensure transparency.

The auditor general concluded that Vaz overstepped his policy-making role and usurped the function of the head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), who is the accounting officer responsible for disaster-related procurement.

Vaz has rejected the findings, calling them “uninformed and grossly inaccurate”. In a series of posts on the social media platform X last Wednesday, Vaz said: “If, in the midst of panic buying and price gouging, I am being faulted for intervening to secure devices to assist a national response, then I make no apologies and take full responsibility.”

He continued: “I strongly reject any suggestion of wrongdoing for my justifiable actions.”

Vaz insisted that all steps taken were in keeping with the Guidance Note on the Acquisition of Goods, Services and Works in the Situation of Emergency or Extreme Urgency, issued by the Office of Public Procurement Policy.

He contended that after the October 28, 2025 hurricane, the only reliable source of Internet connectivity was through Starlink, and demand quickly depleted the local supply. The minister noted that rapid procurement of the devices was essential to restore communications for households, businesses, government services, emergency responders, and disaster relief teams.

Calder agreed that the Guidance Note to which Vaz referred is relevant in assessing his claim. However, rather than supporting his actions, she believes it explicitly renders them unlawful.

“Yes, it was an emergency, speed was required, connectivity was vital and obtaining the devices without a competitive process is allowed,” said Calder.

However, she said the Ministry of Finance’s Guidance Note demands that “in a situation of emergency or extreme urgency, the head of a procuring entity should organize the procurement processes of the entity so as to enable a swift and decisive response”.

Myers also stressed that public officials are bound by established rules. The NIA head said by inserting himself in the procurement process, Vaz erred, notwithstanding his stated well-intentioned motives.

“Emergency procurement procedures have been used on a regular basis in Jamaica, as we face multiplicities of situations requiring their use. What the minister did in this case was enter into areas that – by his role and duty – he shouldn’t have,” he said.

Turning to another finding of the auditor general that the National Disaster Fund Committee (NDFC) was missing in action with no appointments made in the last 24 months, Calder said this was a glaring breach of the law.

The committee has the critical responsibility of managing the National Disaster Fund (NDF) to facilitate the allocation of sums for relief and other purposes in the wake of a natural disaster.

“I am surprised that for a country that lives under the threat of at least a tropical storm or possibly a hurricane every year that we would find [the committee] not meeting, even when the legislation stipulates that it must meet.” In fact, the Disaster Risk Management Act stipulates that the committee must meet once every two months.

The committee last met in 2023, Calder said, pointing out that despite the passage of the Category 4 Hurricane Beryl in July 2024, which caused extensive damage to infrastructure and the agricultural sector, the NDFC did not meet before or after the storm.

Calder questioned how it was possible that three months after the passage of the country’s most catastrophic storm, it still did not occur to the Government that the committee had not met.

Calder said the records indicate that $4.5 billion was spent between the contingency and the National Disaster Fund. “So the question is, since the law stipulates that no one can spend out of the Fund without the NDFC being consulted, then, isn’t that a breach of law?”