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18
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554
St. Ann Municipal Corporation
Office of the Contractor General
November 2017
FINDINGS OF FACT
Based upon a comprehensive review of,
inter alia
, the written and oral statements and enclosed documentary
evidence which were provided to the OCG by certain Public Officials/Officers in the St. Ann Municipal
Corporation, as well as other persons, the OCG is detailing, hereunder, a list of certain key Findings of Fact:
1.
Subsequent to the passing of the Local Governance Act 2016, all Parish Councils in Jamaica were
renamed to Municipal Corporations. The referenced legislation also had the effect that Secretary
Managers or Town Clerks were renamed Chief Executive Officers
.
2.
The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is a fund established to provide Members of Parliament
with financial resources to execute approved social and economic programmes within their
constituencies.
3.
The responsibility for the management and disbursement of the CDF resides with the Office of the
Prime Minister (OPM). The OPM is also responsible for ensuring transparency, probity and
accountability of the Fund.
4.
The responsibility for the implementation of CDF programmes/ projects and/or contracts resides with
approved Government of Jamaica Ministries, Departments and Agencies. In the instant matter, the
Implementing Agencies which held responsibility for the contracts and which formed the subject of the
OCG’s Investigation are the St. Ann Municipal Corporation and the National Solid Waste Management
Authority (NSWMA).
5.
The implementing Ministry, Department and/or Agency is required, pursuant to the Revised
Constituency Development Fund Operational Procedures, to ensure that the Procurement Policy,
Guidelines, the FAA Act, Regulations and Instructions are strictly adhered to, in the implementation of
contracts under the Fund.
6.
For the period January 2012 to present, the St. Ann Municipal Corporation received funds and
implemented projects on behalf of the Member of Parliament for the South East St. Ann Constituency.