JCC, PSOJ heads lobby for exposure of subcontractor list

THE HEADS of two of the country's most influential private-sector lobbies have thrown their support behind a call for the full list of subcontractors engaged in the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP) to be made public.

President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Milton Samuda, who was giving his personal view, said, as a matter of principle, the public should have information such as the names of each contractor, the value of the contract, and the completion date.

"The principle is one of transparency in the expenditure of public funds. This is not people's private business. This is the people's business. They are spending our money," Samuda told The Gleaner on Tuesday.

public assessment

"It (publishing the information) also allows the public to assess whether there are particular reasons why particular contractors get particular contracts from particular governments," he reasoned.

In addition, Samuda said, it will allow citizens to assess which contractors are performing.

He was supported by President of the Private Sector Organisation (PSOJ) Joseph M. Matalon, who said Jamaicans need to be assured about the quality of the work being undertaken.

"I don't think it is really too much to ask to have the Government provide us with those quality-control mechanisms to ensure that the project is carried out in an efficient manner and gives us value for money," Matalon said.

The comments were in reference to a suggestion by Director of the National Integrity Action Forum Professor Trevor Munroe that the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) publish the full list of JDIP sub-contractors.

Munroe, who was speaking at a PSOJ Chairman's Club Forum at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Tuesday, said making the information public would allow Jamaicans to monitor whether the contracts were awarded fairly.

"And very importantly, whether the work done is worth the value and the money put in," Munroe argued.

"We don't want to see roads that are paved washed away after the first shower of rain, because the guy who got the contract is a plumber and not a road-construction person," he added.

After several delays, the complete list of JDIP subcontractors was turned over to the OCG one day before the May 20 deadline set by Contractor General Greg Christie.

This came after Christie complained publicly that the National Works Agency was creating unnecessary roadblocks to avoid giving the information.