Greg Christie, the Contractor General. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

After a stern warning of criminal prosecution against the principals of public bodies if they continued to ignore the Contractor General's request for contract award reports to be filed with his office, Contractor General Greg Christie has reported that there was a 100 per cent compliance rate.

In what has been described as a record and unprecedented response, 191 public bodies submitted their 2006 second and third quarter contract award reports with the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) before the January 12 deadline.

On October 30, Mr. Christie wrote to permanent secretaries and other heads of public agencies warning that he would refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions if these bodies continued to flout the law.

At that time, 165 of the 191 public bodies were tardy in submitting their quarter contract award reports despite the expiration of the preliminary deadline last year.

Mr. Christie, arguing last year that the breaches had reached alarming proportions, had said that he would not tolerate the unlawful and flagrant disregard by public bodies officials of requisitions made by his office for the supply of critical contract award data.

Compelled to act

"It is now abundantly clear that the OCG is compelled to act and must do so forthrightly and dispassionately if it is to effectively discharge its several mandates under the law," the Contractor General had warned.

The requirement for public bodies to file quarterly reports of their contract awards, ranging from between $250,000 and $4,000,000, is a special anti-corruption initiative of the Contractor General. It was launched effective for contracts which were awarded as at May 1, 2006.

In a release yesterday, the OCG stated that public bodies were now legally obliged to submit quarter contract award reports within 30 days of the ending of each calendar year quarter.