Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator

Opposition Leader Bruce Golding last night warned the Government that it has no moral authority to postpone local government elections on the basis of widespread breaches reported in the procedures for the award of contracts at three parish councils.

These elections are due by December 31 this year, but the possibility of a delay has been raised with the release of audit reports, highlighting the breaches, and Local Government Minister Dean Peart's subsequent instruction that the police should investigate the St. Catherine Parish Council.

Political action

Yesterday Mr. Golding vowed to take "political action" to resist a deferral of the local government elections and said the Opposition would insist that the people's right to elect their local representatives was not further delayed.

"We are opposed to any postponement. We don't see that, even if there are discrepancies in the councils, that's the basis for postponing," he told The Gleaner.

Local government elections, which initially should have taken place in June, were postponed until December, as the voters' list was not yet ready.

It was revealed this week that an audit of the St. Catherine and St. Mary parish councils for the period June 12 to June 30 this year showed breaches in the procurement procedures, while similar violations have been reported at the Westmoreland Parish Council for the period April 2005 to June 2006.

Acknowledging that there were issues relating to the financial management of the councils that required attention, Mr. Golding said he had received copies of the audits of the three Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)-controlled parish councils and was not satisfied with the findings.

"It is clear that many of the requirements for the award of contracts were not observed," he admitted.

Mr. Peart has demanded that an audit of all the councils be conducted to determine whether the breaches were systemic.

He told The Gleaner yesterday that, if blatant wrongdoing was unearthed at other councils, this would be "a very serious" matter.

The Local Government Minister said however that he had not yet considered any possible action, including postponing the elections, as a result of the discrepancies, but noted that the issue would be put before the Cabinet for a decision.

In the wake of flagrant breaches into the award of contracts by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC), which were brought to public attention by the Contractor General earlier this year, the Opposition Leader wrote to JLP mayors urging them to comply with established procedures.

According to Mr. Golding, he had been assured of compliance, noting that corrective steps had been taken following the report of the audit into the KSAC.

Meanwhile, the National Advisory Committee on Local Government Reform has submitted an interim report to the Ministry of Local Government. A final report is to be presented before the end of the month.

Mr. Peart said the document would be tabled in Parliament as a Green Paper. Parish Councils and other stakeholders as well as members of the public will have the opportunity to review the paper and make recommendations.