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Company cites breaches in Cuban light bulb scandal
Thursday, March 20, 2008
THE state-owned Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) yesterday fired its director of administration and corporate secretary, Rodney Salmon, after admitting to numerous breaches in the handling of the Cuban light bulb affair.
The board of the PCJ, which met yesterday and examined the reports of both the auditor-general and contractor-general into alleged irregularities in the light bulb programme, did not say why Salmon was fired.
However, in a press statement it said that "The board was of the opinion that officers of the PCJ had to be held accountable for the gross negligence in not following the established guidelines. As a first step, the board took the decision to terminate the services of director of administration and corporate secretary, Mr Rodney Salmon".
According to the PCJ, group managing director, Dr Ruth Potopsingh, submitted a number of responses to the findings of the auditor-general which were considered by the directors.
The board said that after lengthy deliberations, it was of the opinion that numerous breaches of the Petroleum Corporation Act, the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act and the Financial Administration and Audit Act had occurred in the project.
Former junior minister for energy Kern Spencer, his former assistant Coleen Wright, and businessman Rodney Chin were charged following police investigations into the light bulb scandal. They will reappear in court next week.
The Observer tried yesterday to contact PCJ board chairman Ian Moore to get a clarification as to whether the reference to "a first step" meant that other actions would follow, but failed to get a response from him.
In his report on the issue, Contractor-General Greg Christie said that there was no doubt that there was "a breach of duty" on the part of both the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Dr Jean Dixon, who is also a member of the PCJ board, and on the part of "one or more of the accountable officers at the PCJ".
"Quite surprisingly, none of these persons has claimed responsibility, on behalf of their respective entities, for the 4M Project. This is despite the fact that $114 million was expended on the project and approximately $153 million is alleged to be still owing to the contractors," Christie commented.
His report, however, acknowledged that the permanent secretary "has claimed limited knowledge of the 4M project" - under which energy-saving light bulbs given to Jamaica as a gift from the Cuban Government were to be distributed free to householders across the island - and has said that she was "not sufficiently apprised of the procurement breach until December 2006/December 2007".
"It is important to record that PCJ officers, Dr Ruth Potopsingh and Mr Rodney Salmon, director of administration and corporate secretary, did raise concerns and questions, of one type or the other, about the project, at various points throughout the planning, implementation and execution," Christie had reported.
"However, despite the raising of these concerns, the fact still remains that the expansive breaches of the GPPH (Government's Procurement Procedures Handbook) which are associated with the project and the serious accounting, financial and administrative management lapses which occurred in its conception, implementation and execution cannot be denied and must therefore be accounted for," he added.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
THE state-owned Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) yesterday fired its director of administration and corporate secretary, Rodney Salmon, after admitting to numerous breaches in the handling of the Cuban light bulb affair.
The board of the PCJ, which met yesterday and examined the reports of both the auditor-general and contractor-general into alleged irregularities in the light bulb programme, did not say why Salmon was fired.
However, in a press statement it said that "The board was of the opinion that officers of the PCJ had to be held accountable for the gross negligence in not following the established guidelines. As a first step, the board took the decision to terminate the services of director of administration and corporate secretary, Mr Rodney Salmon".
According to the PCJ, group managing director, Dr Ruth Potopsingh, submitted a number of responses to the findings of the auditor-general which were considered by the directors.
The board said that after lengthy deliberations, it was of the opinion that numerous breaches of the Petroleum Corporation Act, the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act and the Financial Administration and Audit Act had occurred in the project.
Former junior minister for energy Kern Spencer, his former assistant Coleen Wright, and businessman Rodney Chin were charged following police investigations into the light bulb scandal. They will reappear in court next week.
The Observer tried yesterday to contact PCJ board chairman Ian Moore to get a clarification as to whether the reference to "a first step" meant that other actions would follow, but failed to get a response from him.
In his report on the issue, Contractor-General Greg Christie said that there was no doubt that there was "a breach of duty" on the part of both the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Dr Jean Dixon, who is also a member of the PCJ board, and on the part of "one or more of the accountable officers at the PCJ".
"Quite surprisingly, none of these persons has claimed responsibility, on behalf of their respective entities, for the 4M Project. This is despite the fact that $114 million was expended on the project and approximately $153 million is alleged to be still owing to the contractors," Christie commented.
His report, however, acknowledged that the permanent secretary "has claimed limited knowledge of the 4M project" - under which energy-saving light bulbs given to Jamaica as a gift from the Cuban Government were to be distributed free to householders across the island - and has said that she was "not sufficiently apprised of the procurement breach until December 2006/December 2007".
"It is important to record that PCJ officers, Dr Ruth Potopsingh and Mr Rodney Salmon, director of administration and corporate secretary, did raise concerns and questions, of one type or the other, about the project, at various points throughout the planning, implementation and execution," Christie had reported.
"However, despite the raising of these concerns, the fact still remains that the expansive breaches of the GPPH (Government's Procurement Procedures Handbook) which are associated with the project and the serious accounting, financial and administrative management lapses which occurred in its conception, implementation and execution cannot be denied and must therefore be accounted for," he added.
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