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<H2 align=justify></H2><P align=justify>• Doors still closed at $90-million ITC centre<P align=justify>Seven years after $90 million was made available to the government for the development of world-class informatics facility at the old Goodyear factory in St Thomas, all that has materialised are a derelict structure and questions about how the money was spent. <P align=justify>The government benefited from a sum of $90 million through a deal with telecommunications company Cable and Wireless, which relinquished its monopoly licence in 1999. <P align=justify>At the time, the government indicated that that the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) facility would provide 4,000 jobs, 10 per cent of its larger platform to generate 40,000 computer-based jobs.<P align=justify>But to date, the doors to what has been named the Springfield Technology Park remains closed, deflating the hopes of many left jobless when the Goodyear factory, which employed hundreds in St Thomas, pulled its shutters down.<P align=justify>With $75 million out of the $90 million directly invested into the development of Springfield Technology Park, the physical structure is now rotting away. In fact, the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ), which manages the property has admitted, “the premises generally appears to be in a state of disrepair”. <P align=justify>Executive director of the FCJ, Ambassador Stewart Stephenson, told the Sunday Herald that the building containing the proposed ICT centre remains in fair condition, despite the inactivity.
“The site of the old factory is in obvious disrepair following the dismantling of the plant and wear and tear to both the roof and the building occasioned by bad weather, including Hurricane Ivan in 2004,” Ambassador Stephenson explained.<P align=justify>Security for the park remains tight since the refurbishing work was completed four years ago, so tight that a Sunday Herald news team was chased away from the gate in January after attempting to gain entrance to the plant through official channels. At least three security guards were seen at the gate.<P align=justify>Requests to access the inside of the building to view the fixtures have proven futile.
<P align=justify>Project Stalled
However, reports reaching this newspaper are that the fixtures inside the 24,000 square foot building have been compromised as a result of damage caused by the passage of three hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.<P align=justify>The financial records obtained by the Sunday Herald through the Access to Information Act showed that $75 million was spent on redeveloping the factory. The remaining $15 million was used by the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce (MITEC) for ICT-related matters such as payments to consultants, overseas travel, as well as the purchase of computers for Members of Parliament.<P align=justify>The documents showed three payments within a three-month period totalling $1.74 million for legal advice to former legal consultant to Minister Paulwell, Nicole Foga. One payment amounting to $903,000 was paid to Miss Foga on December 16, 1999. Just over a week later, she received a second payment of $490,000 and another payment three months later of $350,000. The payments were made for legal advice to the Ministry on the new Telecommunications Act.<P align=justify>Since leaving the Ministry, Miss Foga has established her own law firm and is now a director of the FCJ, which is an agency of the Ministry. The late Ambassador Peter King and his company were also beneficiaries, having received $196,500 for “Cable and Wireless negotiations and meeting”. This payment, which was made on December 23, 1999, was separate from Ambassador King’s monthly salary from the Ministry. <P align=justify>Close to $5 million was spent on overseas travel alone for Mr. Paulwell and other officials of his Ministry, who made several trips to North America, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong to promote Jamaica’s liberalised telecommunications market.
“The site of the old factory is in obvious disrepair following the dismantling of the plant and wear and tear to both the roof and the building occasioned by bad weather, including Hurricane Ivan in 2004,” Ambassador Stephenson explained.<P align=justify>Security for the park remains tight since the refurbishing work was completed four years ago, so tight that a Sunday Herald news team was chased away from the gate in January after attempting to gain entrance to the plant through official channels. At least three security guards were seen at the gate.<P align=justify>Requests to access the inside of the building to view the fixtures have proven futile.
<P align=justify>Project Stalled
However, reports reaching this newspaper are that the fixtures inside the 24,000 square foot building have been compromised as a result of damage caused by the passage of three hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.<P align=justify>The financial records obtained by the Sunday Herald through the Access to Information Act showed that $75 million was spent on redeveloping the factory. The remaining $15 million was used by the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce (MITEC) for ICT-related matters such as payments to consultants, overseas travel, as well as the purchase of computers for Members of Parliament.<P align=justify>The documents showed three payments within a three-month period totalling $1.74 million for legal advice to former legal consultant to Minister Paulwell, Nicole Foga. One payment amounting to $903,000 was paid to Miss Foga on December 16, 1999. Just over a week later, she received a second payment of $490,000 and another payment three months later of $350,000. The payments were made for legal advice to the Ministry on the new Telecommunications Act.<P align=justify>Since leaving the Ministry, Miss Foga has established her own law firm and is now a director of the FCJ, which is an agency of the Ministry. The late Ambassador Peter King and his company were also beneficiaries, having received $196,500 for “Cable and Wireless negotiations and meeting”. This payment, which was made on December 23, 1999, was separate from Ambassador King’s monthly salary from the Ministry. <P align=justify>Close to $5 million was spent on overseas travel alone for Mr. Paulwell and other officials of his Ministry, who made several trips to North America, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong to promote Jamaica’s liberalised telecommunications market.
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