Prime Minister Golding's statement to Parliament on Tuesday did not meet the threshold for our imprimatur on his government's decision to exempt 'the favoured five' from some public-sector procurement guidelines.
Mr Golding, however, appears to have made important concessions that will lessen the capacity of bureaucrats of the favoured entities to "do as they please in determining when, how, to whom and in what value certain government contracts should be awarded", as was feared by Contractor General Greg Christie.
According to the prime minister, the exempt entities - the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica Vacations, Petrojam, Air Jamaica and the Port Authority of Jamaica - will have to report their exempt transactions to Mr Christie's office.
Further, until Mr Golding's statement on Tuesday, there was no requirement of these entities, in the areas where they are allowed to enter contracts without specific oversight to have specific regimes to inform their actions. Perchance that there was intent, none was declared in The Circular Number 34 issued by the Finance Ministry clearing the path for 'the favoured five'.
Moreover, neither did Audley Shaw, the finance minister, in his thundering defence of the policy, say that this would be a requirement.
In that regard, Mr Golding on Tuesday broke further ground, announcing: "I have directed the five named entities to submit to me, within two weeks, details of the procedures to be utilised, including the required level of authorisation and documentation.
"These will be referred to the contractor general for his evaluation and comments," Mr Golding said.
The prime minister must ensure that this happens, and we intend to hold him to his word; not because we do not trust his minister, but because there appears to have been calculated and deliberate attempts by others in the past to circumvent the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) in pushing through the procurement-exempt policy.
Indeed, Mr Christie's chronology of events leading up to the issuance of Circular Number 34, including the defying of the PM's instruction that the OCG be afforded a decent opportunity to review and comment on the policy change, has not been challenged. This cannot be allowed to happen again.
There is an important lesson, though, in Mr Golding's attempt to mollify Mr Christie, and more broadly respond to the concerns of taxpayers, which is what the contractor general's statement represented. That lesson, as we have declared in these columns before: leadership does matter - a lot.
Willingness
Mr Christie has displayed a willingness to stand up for what is right and to protect the interest of taxpayers, on whose behalf he is employed. Even if, on a specific point, he may be wrong, his public challenges to actions that may lead to public corruption is right. It leads to public dialogue, and, very important, transparency.
Ruffled feathers notwithstanding, Mr Christie should, therefore, not change his approach. Happily, Mr Golding has said that he supports Mr Christie's work and that his administration is committed to strengthening the role of the contractor general, including making it criminal to breach government procurement rules.
We support that plan. In the circumstance, we suspend our suggestion that Mr Christie test the bounds of his present powers. The contractor general should, however, be ready to speak out if the Government reneges. Taxpayers are his allies.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
