Tweet
Office of the Contractor-General
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]16 Oxford Road
P.O. Box 540
No. :
TelephoneNo.:876-929-8560/6466
Fax No. : 876-929-2476
E-mail: communications@ocg.gov.jm
Kingston 5
Jamaica, W.I
MEDIA RELEASE
CONTRACTOR GENERAL LAUNCHES SPECIAL INVESTIGATION INTO
GOVERNMENT’S DIVESTMENT OF ITS 45% STAKE IN JAMALCO
Kingston, Jamaica; June 1, 2010 – Contractor General, Greg Christie, has today formally launched a Special Statutory Investigation into the Government’s proposed divestment of its 45% stake in JAMALCO to Zhuhai Hongfan Non-ferrous Metals and Chemical Engineering Limited (Hongfan).
The Contractor General’s decision follows the failure and/or refusal of the Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM) to put the divestment of the shares through a structured, Office of the Contractor General (OCG) monitored competitive process. The MEM has also failed to secure, for examination by the OCG, sworn particulars regarding a BVI registered entity, Port Reliant Limited, which has been represented as Hongfan’s ‘exclusive agent’.
In previous correspondence, the Contractor General had stated that the circumstances which surround the deal were such that they had raised, for the OCG, very serious concerns and questions on the issues of transparency, value for money, competition, conflicts of interest, propriety, merit and impartiality.
The OCG’s decision to investigate the prospective GOJ/Port Reliant/Hongfan deal, has also come on the heels of the OCG’s receipt of a letter from the MEM Permanent Secretary in which she has challenged the OCG’s jurisdiction over the “divestment of government assets”.
In response, the Contractor General has today written to the Prime Minister branding the “eleventh hour” development “to be nothing short of scandalous” and a “retrograde step for the Administration”.
“The fact that the Administration has now boldly challenged the jurisdiction of the OCG over asset divestment matters, despite, inter alia, its previous record of requesting the OCG to formally investigate similar issues, has called into question the credibility and sincerity of its pronouncements regarding its commitment to fight corruption, to strengthen the country’s anti-corruption and good governance institutional structures, and to ensure transparency, probity, competition, accountability and value for money in public contracting”, Mr. Christie said.
In April 2008, the Administration had requested the OCG to conduct a formal investigation into the divestment of Air Jamaica’s London Heathrow Slots by the previous Peoples National Party (PNP) Administration. Over the past 18 months, the OCG, with the full knowledge of the Government, has also been closely monitoring several Government asset divestments without any opposition whatsoever from the Administration or from the Public Bodies that are involved.
The full text of the Contractor General’s six (6) page letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Energy and Mining and the MEM Permanent Secretary, is attached, herewith, for the public record.
-END-
C/o Craig Beresford, Senior Director of Monitoring Operations, Corporate Communications and Special Projects
E-mail: communications@ocg.gov.jm. Tel: 876-929-8560; Direct: 876-926-0034; Mobile: 876-564-1806
Comment