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Contractor General Greg Christie, chief investigative watch-dog of government contracts, said yesterday that he would not wade into the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips controversy because it was outside his remit.

Responding to a Sunday Gleaner editorial published yesterday, Christie said his office "continues to monitor all the relevant and ongoing developments.

"The subject matter is one which (has) had the full attention of the OCG (Office of the Contractor General). That position has not changed and will remain un-changed," Christie said.

However, he made it clear that the decision to engage the United States-based law firm to lobby the US government on extradition matters does not fall within the ambit of the Contractor General Act.

"Unless, therefore, a contractor general is first possessed with unimpeachable evidence that a 'government contract', as defined by the Contractor General Act, has been or is in the process of being awarded by a 'public body', he will be power-less to act," Christie said in a statement.

In addition, Christie emphasised that his office has no power under the Contractor General Act to initiate an investigation to determine if a 'government contract' has been awarded.

Manatt has maintained that it acted on behalf of the Jamaican Govern-ment, not the Jamaica Labour Party.

However, Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who last week admitted that he sanctioned the move, insisted that the law firm was engaged exclusively by the Jamaica Labour Party.