News

Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter

A PARLIAMENTARY oversight body is questioning whether the contract-procurement rules were circumvented in a multibillion-dollar Palisadoes shoreline protection project set to begin on July 1.

The Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament said on Wednesday it would invite Contractor General Greg Christie to its next meeting to clarify certain issues relating to the US$65 million (J$5.8 billion) contract which is funded by a loan from the Ex-Im Bank of China.

At the committee meeting this week, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Works, Dr Alwyn Hales, divulged that Christie had already sent queries to his office about the project.

"They (OCG) have sent us a long list of questions to which we have responded just yesterday (Tuesday)," Hales told the committee.

He said the OCG was not only investigating the project but would be monitoring it for the next 24 months, the duration of the works.

Appropriate procedure

Committee member Phillip Paulwell wanted Christie to explain how the Government could engage a foreign company to do work that would be funded by Jamaican taxpayers without the appropriate procurement process being adopted.

China Harbour Engineering Company is the contractor for the project. However, Paulwell told the committee that Y.P. Seaton & Associates was the subcontractor.

Y.P Seaton of the company Y.P. Seaton & Associates confirmed yesterday that his company had subcontracting arrangements with the main contractors of the Palisadoes and Falmouth Pier projects.

In the case of the Palisadoes project, he said his company had built offices and supplied boulders for the China Harbour Engineering Company. Seaton said his company would also carry out electrical and mechanical work on the project. Hales said it was the contractor's prerogative to offer subcontracts to any company.

When quizzed about the Falmouth Pier project, which is being funded by a loan from the Port Authority of Jamaica, Hales again pointed out that Y.P. Seaton had been listed as one of the subcontractors. The other is Pihl, while the contractor is Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

"Here you have contractors getting large contracts as subcontractors. Is there a process of selective tendering, or is this just at the whim and fancy or the discretion of whatever other company?" committee Chairman Dr Wykeham McNeill asked.

In the case of the Palisadoes project, Hales said the National Contracts Commission (NCC) had no objection to the engagement of China Harbour.

The committee also enquired if the expanded section of the Palisadoes project was approved by the National Environment and Planning Agency.

Dwight Wilson, the project director, said the environmental permits were in place.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com