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St. Ann Municipal Corporation Office of the Contractor General November 2017
CONCLUSIONS
Based upon the documents which have been reviewed, as well as the responses that have been received
from the representatives of the St. Ann Municipal Corporation, the Office of the Member of Parliament,
South East, St. Ann, certain contractors who were awarded GOJ contracts amongst other persons and
entities which were deemed to be pertinent to its investigation, the OCG has arrived at the following
considered Conclusions:
1.
The OCG has seen no evidence to suggest that the process utilized by the Office of the Member of
Parliament, South East, St. Ann in the selection and/or recommendations of persons for the award
of contracts as represented in Appendix 2 was fair, impartial, on merit or on the basis of a
competitive process. In point of fact, the selection or recommendation of a contractor on the basis
that he or she is “well-respected” or “trust-worthy” is rather subjective in nature and cannot be
reasonably verified, irrespective of the fact that the work being executed involves drain cleaning
and de-bushing.
2.
Despite the representations of Ms. Andrea Smith that “
Beneficiaries request are logged at the
constituency office on a daily basis these persons are recommended for assistance from
Councillors, Teachers, Police, Pastors, Community members (the objective is to spread the CDF
benefits to as many people as possible on a needs basis”,
no documentary evidence has been
submitted to this office to substantiate this attestation. In point of fact, Ms. Lisa Hanna, Member
of Parliament and Ms. Andrea Smith have both indicated that all such recommendations are
verbal, and there exists no written record of same.
3.
Notwithstanding Ms. Andrea Smith’s sworn evidence that she did not make recommendations for
the award of contracts in respect of the contracts which form the subject of the OCG’s
investigation and which are outlined in Appendix 2 of this Report, the OCG concludes that Ms.
Smith, as the CDF Consultant, played a crucial role in identifying and/or suggesting persons who
were, in fact, recommended for the award of these specific contracts. By way of an example, the