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Tank-Weld Metals awarded contract to build long-awaited mortuary
BY BALFORD HENRY Observer writer balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Nearly $1 billion worth of national security contracts, including nearly $1/2 billion to complete the long-awaited public morgue for the Corporate Area, have been approved by the National Contracts Commission (NCC).
In a news release yesterday, the Office of the Contractor-General (OCG) listed some 75 contracts approved in November by the NCC, mainly for anti-crime activities by the Ministry of National Security and post-Tropical Storm Gustav repairs by the National Works Agency (NWA).
Notable among the security contracts is the $425.6 million approved for the construction of the morgue at 149 Orange Street, Downtown Kingston. The Corporate Area has been without a public morgue for approximately 30 years.
The contract has been awarded to Tank-Weld Metals, and the building is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
Tank-Weld's general manager for special projects, Mike O'Connell, yesterday said that while the 12-month timeline is challenging, the company was confident it could be met.
"We are very civic-minded at Tank-Weld. We do things on time and we complete them within budget, as long as the architect does what he is supposed to do in the first place," O'Connell told the Observer.
Yesterday, minister of state in the Ministry of National Security Senator Arthur Williams welcomed the approval. He said that the lack of a public morgue in the city had been a severe hindrance to crime-fighting.
"We have had many challenges with the storage of bodies and the holding of post-mortems," said Senator Williams. "Bodies stored on top of bodies are useless in terms of scientific evidence, so this is going to be a great aid to us."
The previous Jamaica Labour Party Administration (1980-1989) had signed a contract for the construction of a morgue Downtown to start in 1989, but those plans were shelved after they lost the general elections that year. The previous People's National Party Government had also committed to building a new morgue, and actually budgeted funds from 2006 to start preliminary work on
the project.
Since the 1980s, private firm Madden's Funeral Parlour has been providing public morgue facilities for the Government on a contractual basis. However, the absence of a public morgue has always been of concern to the public and was highlighted in the controversy surrounding the sudden death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer during the Cricket World Cup last year.
Several other contracts for the Ministry of National Security, valued at over $400,000, were also approved by the NCC to provide support for the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
These covered 90 patrol cars with flashing lights and sirens; 24 sport utility vehicles, 20 with flashing lights and sirens; 50 double-cab pickup trucks; and eight 15-seater buses, five with flashing lights and sirens.
About $60 million will also be spent on the construction of police stations at Point Hill, St Catherine and Alexandria in St Ann, and $10 million on technical consultancy for the development of an ICT network strategy for both the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Justice. Another US$465,000 (approximately J$40 million) has also been approved for unnamed security-related items.
The contracts will now go back to the Cabinet for final approval.
The OCG is the secretariat for both the contractor-general (C-G) and the NCC. However, they are separate and independent commissions of Parliament with distinct functions. The C-G monitors and investigates the award and implementation of Government contracts, while the NCC endorses and/or approves Government contracts.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...SURRECTED_.asp
BY BALFORD HENRY Observer writer balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Nearly $1 billion worth of national security contracts, including nearly $1/2 billion to complete the long-awaited public morgue for the Corporate Area, have been approved by the National Contracts Commission (NCC).
In a news release yesterday, the Office of the Contractor-General (OCG) listed some 75 contracts approved in November by the NCC, mainly for anti-crime activities by the Ministry of National Security and post-Tropical Storm Gustav repairs by the National Works Agency (NWA).
Notable among the security contracts is the $425.6 million approved for the construction of the morgue at 149 Orange Street, Downtown Kingston. The Corporate Area has been without a public morgue for approximately 30 years.
The contract has been awarded to Tank-Weld Metals, and the building is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
Tank-Weld's general manager for special projects, Mike O'Connell, yesterday said that while the 12-month timeline is challenging, the company was confident it could be met.
"We are very civic-minded at Tank-Weld. We do things on time and we complete them within budget, as long as the architect does what he is supposed to do in the first place," O'Connell told the Observer.
Yesterday, minister of state in the Ministry of National Security Senator Arthur Williams welcomed the approval. He said that the lack of a public morgue in the city had been a severe hindrance to crime-fighting.
"We have had many challenges with the storage of bodies and the holding of post-mortems," said Senator Williams. "Bodies stored on top of bodies are useless in terms of scientific evidence, so this is going to be a great aid to us."
The previous Jamaica Labour Party Administration (1980-1989) had signed a contract for the construction of a morgue Downtown to start in 1989, but those plans were shelved after they lost the general elections that year. The previous People's National Party Government had also committed to building a new morgue, and actually budgeted funds from 2006 to start preliminary work on
the project.
Since the 1980s, private firm Madden's Funeral Parlour has been providing public morgue facilities for the Government on a contractual basis. However, the absence of a public morgue has always been of concern to the public and was highlighted in the controversy surrounding the sudden death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer during the Cricket World Cup last year.
Several other contracts for the Ministry of National Security, valued at over $400,000, were also approved by the NCC to provide support for the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
These covered 90 patrol cars with flashing lights and sirens; 24 sport utility vehicles, 20 with flashing lights and sirens; 50 double-cab pickup trucks; and eight 15-seater buses, five with flashing lights and sirens.
About $60 million will also be spent on the construction of police stations at Point Hill, St Catherine and Alexandria in St Ann, and $10 million on technical consultancy for the development of an ICT network strategy for both the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Justice. Another US$465,000 (approximately J$40 million) has also been approved for unnamed security-related items.
The contracts will now go back to the Cabinet for final approval.
The OCG is the secretariat for both the contractor-general (C-G) and the NCC. However, they are separate and independent commissions of Parliament with distinct functions. The C-G monitors and investigates the award and implementation of Government contracts, while the NCC endorses and/or approves Government contracts.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...SURRECTED_.asp