The recently opened Sandals Whitehouse European Village and Spa in Westmoreland.
Contractor General Greg Christie, in his investigation of the Sandals Whitehouse project, said that the selection of consultants on the
project were "all hand-picked and their contract terms negotiated". Here are excerpts of the investigation.
"In our perusal of a number of files at the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), and our subsequent review of other
pertinent documents, we saw no indication that the selection and engagement of the project's
consultants were carried out on an impartial and competitive basis.
"Rather, it appears that all of the consultants were hand-picked and that their basic terms of engagement were negotiated and agreed by and with the UDC, acting on behalf of Newtown, prior to their formal engagement by Newtown.
"Although the UDC claimed that its intention was to
'recommend' the consultants to Newtown for formal 'appointment', we have seen no evidence to suggest that Newtown did anything more beyond formally appointing the consultants as per the UDC's recommendations and consistent with the basic terms of engagement that the UDC had already reached with the consultant under the various UDC "proposals".
Clear violation
At a minimum, such circumstances would constitute a clear and open violation of the Government's procurement
policy and procedures and/or the contract award standards which have been established by the Contractor General Act (1983) which require all government
contracts to be awarded
impartially, competitively, transparently and/or on merit."
"Twenty-four consultants, inclusive of the UDC, ASHTROM, NEVALCO and Gorstew Ltd., were engaged on the project. The UDC, which generally operates as the Government's primary project development executing agency, was appointed as project manager under the Newtown Heads of Agreement and, thus, in respect of this contract, would be excluded from the ambit of the Government's procurement
procedures."
"There are two contracts, one which was awarded to ART Inc. and another to Charsal Marketing for the sourcing and supply of
furniture, fixtures and equipment, in respect of which we have found no records. Also, we are not certain as to the details of the engagement of Appliance Traders Ltd. as a consultant on the project."
