John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
YIELDING TO public pressure, embattled Local Government Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has instructed that the reports from the Auditor General and Contractor General detailing significant levels of impropriety at the beleaguered National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) be turned over to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the commissioner of police.
"Minister Simpson Miller has instructed Permanent Secretary Loraine Robinson to immediately forward the reports to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the commissioner of police, the Ministry of Finance and Planning, and the Attorney-General's Department ... with a view to take any necessary and appropriate action," read a statement issued by the Ministry of Local Government yesterday.
The minister's instructions came a day after she told Parliament, in the face of intense pressure from Opposition members, that "there is nowhere in the (Contractor General's) report or the Auditor General's report that said that I should send it to, or suggest that I should send it to the police."
HARD DRIVES REMOVED
Yesterday, Errol Greene, the newly appointed head of the NSWMA, said the police were called in to investigate the mysterious removal of hard drives from three computers from the agency's office located on Half-Way Tree Road, St. Andrew.
Mr. Greene said the hard drives were removed "sometime over the weekend and yesterday (Wednesday)." He said the computers were at different locations in the building.
Meantime, Mrs. Simpson Miller has appointed a new board to steer the operations of the NSWMA. Speaking on Power 106's morning talk show 'Independent Talk' yesterday, she said the new appointees include May Pen's Mayor, Milton Brown, and a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force who she did not name.
The appointment of the new Board of Directors comes three months after the previous members resigned en bloc at an emergency meeting, after it was suspected that there were irregularities at the solid waste agency.
In the report tabled by the Local Government Minister in Parliament on Wednesday, Contractor General Derrick McKoy said "There was a flagrant disregard by the authority's board and the management team of the government's procedures and policies as they relate to procurement and accountability."
He further stated that "the rejection of the principle of accountability, especially as it relates to the portfolio ministry and to the permanent secretary, has resulted in a breakdown of governance for which the board and management are responsible."
The Contractor General's report, while noting that there was no evidence to suggest that members of the Alston Stewart-led board had used their positions for personal gain, discovered nearly $2 billion in contract breaches.
Among the glaring breaches outlined by the report were the duplication of entities and separate entries for their principals from which the NSWMA rented equipment. For example, the report said Denzil McDonald, who owns Melrose Farms and Estate, was registered as two distinct entities. It said Sylvester Green and S.A. Green and Associates were also listed as two separate entities which were paid for rental of equipment.
Reacting to the findings of the two reports, Opposition Leader, Bruce Golding, yesterday announced that he had appointed a special team to examine the reports by the Auditor General and the Contractor General with the intention to pursue those responsible. According to a statement from Mr. Golding's office, the revelation of the reports "constituted a damning indictment of the way in which some government agencies have been allowed to 'run with it'."
"It is obvious that the integrity in the administration of government agencies was no more secure now than it was at the time of the fat salaries scandal or other scandals such as those surrounding Netserv and Operation Pride," the statement said.
