NCC clears the air on contracts

Amid a warning from the MSME Alliance which last week said numerous players in the sector could be affected if the award of some government contracts are pegged to their audited accounts, the chairman of the National Contracts Commission (NCC) says there is no basis for any fear.

Raymond McIntyre, in a response to a Gleaner query, said "audited accounts are not required for small contractors (businesses)".

Hamilton told a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Thursday that members were complaining that the NCC and some banks are requiring audited accounts in order to benefit from loans and contracts. She told the forum that for MSME members to produce audited accounts, it would only prove financially burdensome for members.

Hamilton stressed that while she was not against audited accounts being asked of small businesses, such requirements should be left until the sector has developed the resources needed to provide such.

However, in response to questions from this newspaper, the NCC chairman says the NCC's policy on the requirement for audited accounts of contractors applying for registration is guided by the Companies Act of Jamaica.

He pointed to Section 6 of the Companies Act of Jamaica which outlines the principles governing small businesses.

According to Section 6, the company is deemed to be small if it has a turnover of less that $40 million in the last financial year, or if its balance sheet total is less that $30 million; or it employs less than 25 workers.

The MSME Alliance is an umbrella organisation representing the interest of micro-, small- and medium-size enterprises. Its membership covers 35 business associations that represent some 300,000 businesses.

- Nedburn Thaffe