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St. Ann Municipal Corporation Office of the Contractor General November 2017
N.B Councillors are advised that the Department will not be
accepting programmes outlining group payments.”
(OCG
Emphasis)
It is instructive to note that the referenced directive was issued subsequent to the initiation of the OCG’s
Investigation.
Ms. Hanna also provided the OCG with a copy of a letter which was addressed to her by Councillor, Ian
Bell. The letter noted,
inter alia,
the following:
“
This is to inform you that Acting Deputy Superintendent
Xavier Munroe, had circulated the attached memorandum to
all Councillors of the St. Ann Parish Council as to his
decision not to accept any instruction as to group payments in
the St. Ann Parish Council. He also indicated at Finance
Committee Meeting on Wednesday, December 9, 2015, that he
will not be entertaining any instructions of group payment
from any Member of Parliament in the parish.
He said while two persons or so can collect payments for each
Division, it must not be stated in the MP’s correspondence
that it is a GROUP PAYMENT
.
Essentially, all the persons
you have listed to collect the payments can still do so if you
amend your correspondence without the word GROUP
.
You are to note, however, that in my eight years as a
Councilor in the St. Ann Parish Council that this has never
been a challenge, as this requirement has never been made of
us before
.”
Having regard to the disclosures and representations made to the OCG by the Officers of the St. Ann
Municipal Corporation and operatives of the Office of the Member of Parliament South East St. Ann, the
OCG, during a hearing, which was held on June 1, 2017, required the former Secretary Manager, Mr. Alfred