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St. Ann Municipal Corporation Office of the Contractor General November 2017
The Award of Contracts to Person Affiliated and/or Associated with the People’s National Party
and Related to Ms. Andrea Smith
The recommendation for the award of a contract by a public officer to close family members such as ones
mother and/or aunt constitutes a form of nepotism which the
Black’s Law Dictionary
Ninth Edition
defines simply as the “
bestowal of official favors on one’s relatives, esp. in hiring
”.
Notwithstanding the identified relationship between Ms. Andrea Smith and Ms. Beverly Sinclair, the
letter of December 18, 2013, which was written on the letterhead of the Member of Parliament and
attached at Appendix 4 was signed by Ms. Andrea Smith on behalf on the Member of Parliament, Ms.
Lisa Hanna. Similarly, despite the identified relationship between Ms. Andrea Smith and Mrs. Ivy Clarke-
Robinson, the letter dated December 10, 2014 was prepared on the letterhead of the Member of
Parliament, South East, St. Ann and signed by Ms. Lisa Hanna. In both instances, the referenced letters
were utilized by the St. Ann Municipal Corporation as the basis and justification for the award of the
contracts.
Importantly, Ms. Hanna, during the course of a hearing which was dated November 24, 2015 advised the
OCG of the authority of Ms. Andrea Smith to sign letters on her behalf:
“CHAIRMAN: Miss Andrea Smith has advised, in my words, that she
has authority because we had shown her a number of
letters, which I am going to show to you in a minute,
where she has your authority to sign to advise the
Superintendent of Works, ultimately the Parish
Council, that group payments are to be made.
A:
As the CDF Officer, the CDF documentation and
the like, yes, she would have authority to sign in
terms of her work as the CDF officer because the
CDF officer works very closely with the