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'Bar Him!'
Published: Friday | October 22, 201013 Comments and 0 Reactions
Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter
AT LEAST two members of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) committee of Parliament have said that the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) should be prevented from taking part in the evaluation meetings of the fund's Programme Management Unit (PMU).
"There is nowhere in the guidelines that requires him to be there, so just bar him," declared CDF committee Chairman Everald Warmington in reference to the OCG representative who observes the preliminary review process.
Derrick Kellier, a committee member, also stated that the OCG personnel had "no place (sitting) there".
Their comments were made during the October 12 CDF committee sitting at Gordon House.
Contractor General Greg Christie told The Gleaner yesterday that, while he had not read or seen the alleged statements, "if indeed they were in fact made by Mr Warmington and/or Mr Kellier, then (they) would have been misguided in the making of the said statements".
Unlawful action
Christie charged that it was unlawful for any person or authority to direct the OCG as to the manner in which it should discharge its functions under the Contractor General Act.
"If the OCG decides to attend meetings of the CDFPMU, the CDF parliamentary committee would have no legal authority to prevent it from so doing," he said.
The contractor general cautioned that it was not possible for any state official or person to obstruct the OCG in the lawful discharge of its mandates under the Contractor General Act to monitor any component of the Government's contract award processes.
The verbatim report of the parliamentary committee's proceedings (Hansard) recorded a discussion in which Warmington, the chairman, and committee member Kellier reached consensus on the exclusion of a representative from the OCG from a CDF review committee.
"You see, I hear mention of the contractor general's name in this meeting, but I also have heard in previous meetings that the representative of the contractor general sits on this committee that 'pre-looks' at all these things," Warmington told his colleagues.
Said Kellier: "Yes, so if they sit on the review committee in matters like these, how come we still have to mention anything about the contractor general at this meeting ... ."
Questioned logic
The CDF chairman questioned the logic of the contractor general sending queries about projects which have already been examined despite the OCG representative sitting on the review committee.
"They (OCG) go there and review, they agree with it, it comes here and then in his investigation they complain about the project itself ... they need to ask him not to come back to the meeting," Warmington added.
"Well, I would wish to retroactively agree with you because I had said it from the very beginning that he had no place there," Kellier remarked.
But Christie denied claims that the OCG representative made contributions to the CDFPMU's meetings.
"In any case in which an OCG representative attends a meeting of the CDFPMU, he would be doing so only in the capacity as an observer and in pursuance of the OCG's contract monitoring mandates under the Contractor General Act," Christie affirmed.
The contractor general also contended that evaluation meetings which had been attended by an OCG representative did not deal with procurements. He said the meetings evaluated preliminary project proposals submitted by members of parliament prior to the proposal being sent to the CDF parliamentary committee for further assessment and approval.
edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com
Published: Friday | October 22, 201013 Comments and 0 Reactions
Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter
AT LEAST two members of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) committee of Parliament have said that the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) should be prevented from taking part in the evaluation meetings of the fund's Programme Management Unit (PMU).
"There is nowhere in the guidelines that requires him to be there, so just bar him," declared CDF committee Chairman Everald Warmington in reference to the OCG representative who observes the preliminary review process.
Derrick Kellier, a committee member, also stated that the OCG personnel had "no place (sitting) there".
Their comments were made during the October 12 CDF committee sitting at Gordon House.
Contractor General Greg Christie told The Gleaner yesterday that, while he had not read or seen the alleged statements, "if indeed they were in fact made by Mr Warmington and/or Mr Kellier, then (they) would have been misguided in the making of the said statements".
Unlawful action
Christie charged that it was unlawful for any person or authority to direct the OCG as to the manner in which it should discharge its functions under the Contractor General Act.
"If the OCG decides to attend meetings of the CDFPMU, the CDF parliamentary committee would have no legal authority to prevent it from so doing," he said.
The contractor general cautioned that it was not possible for any state official or person to obstruct the OCG in the lawful discharge of its mandates under the Contractor General Act to monitor any component of the Government's contract award processes.
The verbatim report of the parliamentary committee's proceedings (Hansard) recorded a discussion in which Warmington, the chairman, and committee member Kellier reached consensus on the exclusion of a representative from the OCG from a CDF review committee.
"You see, I hear mention of the contractor general's name in this meeting, but I also have heard in previous meetings that the representative of the contractor general sits on this committee that 'pre-looks' at all these things," Warmington told his colleagues.
Said Kellier: "Yes, so if they sit on the review committee in matters like these, how come we still have to mention anything about the contractor general at this meeting ... ."
Questioned logic
The CDF chairman questioned the logic of the contractor general sending queries about projects which have already been examined despite the OCG representative sitting on the review committee.
"They (OCG) go there and review, they agree with it, it comes here and then in his investigation they complain about the project itself ... they need to ask him not to come back to the meeting," Warmington added.
"Well, I would wish to retroactively agree with you because I had said it from the very beginning that he had no place there," Kellier remarked.
But Christie denied claims that the OCG representative made contributions to the CDFPMU's meetings.
"In any case in which an OCG representative attends a meeting of the CDFPMU, he would be doing so only in the capacity as an observer and in pursuance of the OCG's contract monitoring mandates under the Contractor General Act," Christie affirmed.
The contractor general also contended that evaluation meetings which had been attended by an OCG representative did not deal with procurements. He said the meetings evaluated preliminary project proposals submitted by members of parliament prior to the proposal being sent to the CDF parliamentary committee for further assessment and approval.
edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com
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