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Prime Minister Bruce Golding today blasted people he said were responsible for continued delays in completing Government projects.
According to Mr. Golding, this leads to unnecessary cost overruns and must be stopped now.
Mr. Golding expressed his frustration during Thursday night's last opening of the Montego Bay Tourism Centre in St. James.
The Centre sparked controversy after the Government was forced to dole out monthly rental even though its agents were not occupying the building.
Mr. Golding called on his Finance Minister Audley Shaw to look at imposing penalties for persons guilty of delaying Government projects.
"I want (him) to explore the possibility on implementing some system for when people commit errors like that and delay Government projects and cost Government more money, away must be found it apply penalties and sanctions. You can't just mistakes like that and just walk away," he said.
The facility was leased over a year ago and citing the Tourism Centre as an example, Mr. Golding noted that it cost US$1,500 per month for rent but was unoccupied for a year because the building required another J$4 million in fixtures.
And while he partially agrees with criticisms coming from several quarters that Government procedures aided in the delay of the project, Mr. Golding said the alternative cannot be to abandon those procedures and open them up to abuse.
"The kind of abuse that undermines confidence in public administration so, it's not a question of doing away with these procedures; I'm just saying they don't have to be as lengthy as they always are and this project indicates that the time between placing advertisement for contract tenders and the award of tenders was relatively short," the Prime Minister said.
The Tourism Centre will house the Jamaica Tourist Board, Tourism Enhancement Fund, Tourism Product Development Company and Jamaica Vacations Limited.
According to Mr. Golding, this leads to unnecessary cost overruns and must be stopped now.
Mr. Golding expressed his frustration during Thursday night's last opening of the Montego Bay Tourism Centre in St. James.
The Centre sparked controversy after the Government was forced to dole out monthly rental even though its agents were not occupying the building.
Mr. Golding called on his Finance Minister Audley Shaw to look at imposing penalties for persons guilty of delaying Government projects.
"I want (him) to explore the possibility on implementing some system for when people commit errors like that and delay Government projects and cost Government more money, away must be found it apply penalties and sanctions. You can't just mistakes like that and just walk away," he said.
The facility was leased over a year ago and citing the Tourism Centre as an example, Mr. Golding noted that it cost US$1,500 per month for rent but was unoccupied for a year because the building required another J$4 million in fixtures.
And while he partially agrees with criticisms coming from several quarters that Government procedures aided in the delay of the project, Mr. Golding said the alternative cannot be to abandon those procedures and open them up to abuse.
"The kind of abuse that undermines confidence in public administration so, it's not a question of doing away with these procedures; I'm just saying they don't have to be as lengthy as they always are and this project indicates that the time between placing advertisement for contract tenders and the award of tenders was relatively short," the Prime Minister said.
The Tourism Centre will house the Jamaica Tourist Board, Tourism Enhancement Fund, Tourism Product Development Company and Jamaica Vacations Limited.
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