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St. Ann Municipal Corporation Office of the Contractor General November 2017
RECOMMENDATIONS
Section 20 (1) of the Contractor General Act mandates that “
after conducting an Investigation under this
Act, a Contractor-General shall, in writing, inform the principal officer of the public body concerned and
the Minister having responsibility therefor of the result of that Investigation
and make such
Recommendations as he considers necessary
in respect of the matter which was investigated
.” (OCG’s
Emphasis)
Having regard to the foregoing, the OCG now posits the following recommendations:
1.
The OCG strongly recommends that the St. Ann Municipal Corporation excise from its internal
procedures, the facility and practice of “group contracts” and/or “group payments”. The OCG is of
the considered opinion that such a practice is a corruption enabling facility which is highly
susceptible to, amongst other things, misappropriation of public funds and varying forms of
corruption.
2.
The OCG recommends that the St. Ann Municipal Corporation, its Accounting and Accountable
Officers, pay keen attention to, and ensure compliance with the provisions of the Revised
Constituency Development Fund Operational Procedures, 2015, as well as the provisions which
are stipulated in the Procurement Policy Guidelines, the FAA Act, Regulations and Instructions, in
the implementation of contracts under the Fund. The OCG’s recommendation is being proffered in
an effort to ensure that the award and implementation of government contracts are awarded
impartially and on merit and that the circumstances in which each contract is awarded does not
involve any level of impropriety or irregularity.
3.
The OCG recommends that de-bushing and drain cleaning works be discontinued, with immediate
effect, island-wide, or in the alternative, that the relevant due diligence and contract management
systems of implementing agencies be strengthened.