Tyrone Reid & Edmond Campbell, Gleaner Writers
The new phase of Highway 2000 is immersed in controversy and Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, has been unable to defend the Governmentís actions in the face of mounting accusations that this segment of the multibillion-dollar project was illegally given to TransJamaican Highway (TJH), the local arm of French construction company Bouygues Travaux Public.
Minister Pickersgill told The Gleaner yesterday that although the contract was not put to tender as stipulated by the governmentís procurement guidelines, all phases of the Highway 2000 project were covered by the concession agreement.
However, concerned citizens, Dr. Martin Aub and his wife Beth, are contending that the current contract with TJH was to develop the recently concluded phase 1A, which includes Kingston to Sandy Bay, as well as the Portmore toll bridge, and gives an option for phase 1B, which is approximately 37 kilometres from Sandy Bay in Clarendon to Williamsfield, Manchester.
They argued that the Government's decision to give the contract for phase two, which was not
mentioned in the initial concession agreement, to Bouygues, rather than putting it to tender was illegal.
This, among other concerns, has sparked an investigation by the Office of the Contractor General into all phases of the project.
In an interview yesterday, Contractor General Greg Christie told The Gleaner that the probe started in November last year and that he and his team were working assiduously to conclude the matter.
Mr. Christie refused to comment further on the matter until investigations were completed.
During queries by our news team, Mr. Pickersgill was unable to provide specific answers to the contractual arrangement and sought to contact head of the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC), Ivan Anderson to give details.
However, attempts by the Minister to reach Mr. Anderson while our news team waited on the phone, were unsuccessful. Questions were also emailed to Mr. Anderson on Monday but a response was not forthcoming.
Still, Mr. Pickersgill, who admitted that he did not have the details, pointed out that Highway 2000 was a concession to TransJamaican Highway.
Making reference to the original contract, Mr. Pickersgill said that as long as the company abided by the terms of the concession agreement it had first right of refusal for all other phases of Highway 2000.
"To the best of my knowledge, going to Ocho Rios was not subject to tender but that has been taken care of," he said.
"That's why simultaneously with going to Ocho Rios they will have to proceed to Williamsfield," he added.
Meanwhile, head of the National Contracts Commission (NCC) Secretariat, Richard Dowie, said that NROCC met with the NCC seeking approval for a US$99.5 million variation of the existing concession agreement.
Reading from the minutes of the meeting on April 25, he said "we (NROCC) are requesting a variation to an existing concession agreement to carry out design and build contract for Mount Rosser by-pass".
It states further that the concession agreement "would foresee that there would have been a subsequent phase to the first contract which gave them the right of first refusal of doing the subsequent phase to the holder of the concession".
But, Dr. and Mrs. Aub are contending that the awarding process was illegal.
"Phase 1B was already the subject of competitive bidding between Bouygues and the Spanish company Dragados. To now arbitrarily phase the entire routing of phase 1b would in effect be unfair to Dragados, and would make the original tender process meaningless."
They added "the route to Ocho Rios is nearly twice as long and through far more mountainous and difficult terrain and therefore more costly".
Correction & Clarification
In yesterday’s lead story, ‘Highway Probe’, a statement was incorrectly attributed to Dr. Martin Aub and his wife Beth, in relation to Phase 2 of the highway not being mentioned in the concession agreement.
The story stated, “They argued that the Government’s decision to give the contract for Phase 2, which was not mentioned in the initial concession agreement, to Bouygues, rather than putting it to tender was illegal”.
However, Dr. and Mrs. Aub actually said that Clause 6.3 of the Concession Agreement between the National Road Operating and Constructing Company and Trans-Jamaican Highway allows the latter to declare interest in building Phase 2A (Bushy Park to Ocho
Rios) and/or Phase 2B (Williamsfield to Montego Bay), but that this clause is illegal, as neither of these phases had been put out for competitive bidding.
