Phyllis Thomas and Tyrone Reid, Enterprise Editor/Staff Reporters
An excavator in operation at the Riverton City dump. - File
THE CONTRACTOR-general and other groups called in to investigate irregularities involving millions of dollars at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and allegations of corruption, could find the task arduous.
There are further allegations that important documents that could be beneficial to the investigation were being destroyed. The Sunday Gleaner was informed that persons within the NSWMA were in office until way past midnight last week, shredding important documents.
"They worked until after midnight on Monday at 61 Half-Way Tree Road shredding the evidence," an insider said.
The Ministry of Local Government, when questioned about this latest development, admitted that the allegations had been brought to its attention.
"That is an allegation that has been made," Ann Marie Mitoo, spokesperson in the ministry said, adding that it was similar to other allegations being made, hence the ministry's call for the investigations.
NO REPORT TO POLICE
Meanwhile, the police said that the matter had not been reported to them. The NSWMA is under the scrutiny of the the Ministry of Local Government, the auditor- general and the contractor-general for various alleged irregularities within the authority and failure to present its financial statements to the auditor-general for two consecutive years.
But, even with the difficulties that the investigating teams are expected to encounter, there are certain alleged irregularities for which members of staff and other persons with close links to the NSWMA say they are seeking answers.
At the top of the list is what they say is Alston Stewart's apparent conflict of interest. It is alleged that apart from being the executive chairman, he is also part owner of a million-dollar piece of equipment that is used in the public cleansing exercise, including the D9 equipment, the oversized tractor that is used to push garbage unto the landfill at Riverton City.
NO WORD TO THE MEDIA
When contacted on Friday, Mr. Stewart said that he would not talk to the media until Minister of Local Government Portia Simpson Miller released the 'substantive' report which the board handed to her Thursday night.
"We (the board) finalised the report and sent it to her last night," he emphasised.
The investigations of the NSWMA should also cover the awarding of contracts, state those demanding answers. They listed the fact that a former Metropolitan Parks and Market official has the contract to sweep a St. Catherine community, for $1.3 million every fortnight.
A contentious contract is that awarded to the operators of the D9 equipment on the dump. The Sunday Gleaner investigations revealed that since the 'rare' machine was acquired just over a year ago, they have received more than $50 million for work done.
And sources close to the ministry's investigations say that the report to be made public this week at a media briefing in Kingston, will deny the allegations of widespread corruption. However, it will highlight concerns that the board had about contracts that were issued to an individual who is said to be a People's National Party sympathiser, without being put to tender.
BREACH OF PROCEDURES
"One person was getting a lot of contracts and his contracts were not going through the proper National Contracts Commission procedures ... Government regulations say if you are going to give out a contract, it should be put to tender," the insider stated.
These contracts were said to sing to the tune of $50 million, with the contractor, collecting $2 million per fortnight.
In September 2003, the NSWMA, acting on the recommendation of a management study of its operations, fired all its inspectors and dispatch staff as well as persons holding senior positions at the authority. However, less than a year later, they were rehired at salaries which are, in some cases, more than 200 per cent of what they earned before they were fired.
The Sunday Gleaner was informed that all the inspectors who were fired were rehired last year June as 'roving team contractors' with responsibility to cover St. Catherine, Clarendon and St. Thomas. Reports are that prior to being fired, the inspectors, who monitored the zonal contractors to ensure that street cleaning was done, received, on average, net salary of $40,000 per month, depending on seniority. After they were rehired, the smallest contract was remunerated at $78,000 per fortnight but some earn as much as half a million dollars a fortnight.
MADE SCAPEGOATS
The firing of the group in 2003 followed the disappearance of more than $46 million, but their colleagues at the NSWMA believed that they were made scapegoats. An investigation was ordered into the disappearance of the money then, but it is not known if one was in fact held. However, the colleagues of the persons fired felt vindicated when they were rehired.
"If they were implicated in the disappearance of the money, on what basis were they rehired? We always felt that they were used as scapegoats," one employee said.
The study, dated September 22, 2003 by the Systems and Opera-tions Committees comprising members of the management team of the NSWMA, looked at suspected abuse of operation systems and made recommendations on disciplinary actions to be taken. The committees were set up by Mr. Stewart who mandated the study.
They found, among other things that:
The system of operation was poorly designed and what was in place was being manipulated and poorly managed.
Dispatchers' reports were inadequate.
There was forgery with regard to the completion of tickets for payment when trucks were dispatched.
There was evidence that the integrity of the system in the Public Cleansing Department had broken down.
The public cleansing manager's secretary applied her discretion with regard to irregular tickets instead of strictly adhering to standards. The summary spreadsheet of tickets and invoices compiled for payment included questionable tickets which were not necessarily verified by the public cleansing manager who then approved them.
The committees also found discrepancies in the accounting system. They recommended among other things, the firing of a number of persons, including managers, inspectors and scale house operators.
Another issue which those calling for investigations want examined is allegations that some staff members operated what is called supplementary trucks. They are among the sub-contractors who come into the system of public cleansing when the trucks leased by the zonal contractors (the regular contractors) are disabled.
The zonal contractors lease trucks from the Government which they use in cleaning the streets. The government is responsible for maintenance and repairs. The zonal contractors are responsible for tyres, fuel and lubricant.
SUPPLEMENTARY TRUCKS
Whenever the trucks break down for whatever reasons, a supplementary truck comes in. But the disabled trucks are parked for long periods of time as the NSWMA says it has no money to do repairs. In the meantime, however, those operating the supplementary units, rake in huge sums of money.
Mr. Stewart, in a notice to staff on April 11, 2003, instructed "all employees who are currently providing services to the authority be it haulage, collections or otherwise, to declare these within five working days of this notice".
He told them that the five-day period "represents an amnesty where appropriate consideration will be given to the retention of these contracts."
