Cooke

PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding has called for a full report from the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) on the contracts, issued by the bus company, which are being queried by the contractor general.

According to a release from the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday, Golding has directed Minister of Transport and Works, Mike Henry, to summon the board of the JUTC to meet and prepare the report.

The report is to be ready and submitted by tomorrow afternoon.

Review welcomed

A release from the transport ministry stated that, on Henry's instruction, JUTC Chairman Robin Levy had scheduled a meeting of the company's board for today at 4 p.m.

"The minister has advised the chairman to ensure that all the arrangements necessary to facilitate a transparent examination of the allegations should be put in place by the board," the release stated.

"Both the minister and the chairman have welcomed the pending review of the Office of the Contractor General's report by the director of public prosecutions and are awaiting the outcome."

Following the meeting, the board is to formally report to the minister on its discussions.

Procedure not breached

Meanwhile, Heather Cooke, clerk to the Houses of Parliament, said yesterday that parliamentary procedure was not breached on November 28 when the contractor general's report into the award of contracts by the JUTC was tabled in the Senate.

Cooke told The Gleaner it was appropriate for the report to be tabled first in the Senate before it reached the House without violating parliamentary practice.

"The Contractor General Act says once the matter has been brought to the attention of the speaker or president, it should be tabled as soon as possible," she explained.

According to Section 28 (3) of the Contractor General Act, "Reports under this section shall be submitted to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate who shall, as soon as possible, have them laid on the table of the appropriate House."

Henry, in a release on the weekend, suggested the tabling of the report in the Senate before it could be reviewed by the House of Representatives was contrary to normal parliamentary procedure.

But Cooke pointed out that she had been directed by Senate President Dr Oswald Harding to table the report in the Upper House on Friday.

Harding yesterday confirmed that he had signed written instructions for the contractor general's report into the JUTC contracts to be tabled in the Senate.