CHRISTIE

Principals and accounting officers of more than 60 delinquent public bodies are under threat of prosecution for yet another breach of the Contractor General's Act.

Contractor General Greg Christie, in a press release, yesterday, said these bodies had failed to comply with the lawful requisition of the Office of the Contractor General, and confirmed that he would be taking steps to put the matter into the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Kent Pantry.

Under section 29 of the Contractor General's Act, "Every person who fails to comply with any lawful requirement of a Contractor General or any other persons under this Act shall be guilty of an offence." If convicted, offenders could face both fine and imprisonment.

Latest breach

The latest breach involves the failure of the public bodies to submit their 2006 fourth quarter contract award reports on or before the January 31 deadline.

Public bodies are required to file quarterly reports of their contract awards valuing $250,000 to $3.9 million, as a special anti-corruption initiative of the Office of the Contractor General. It is intended to bring probity, transparency and independent scrutiny to the award of government contracts, which fall beneath the $4-million threshold.

Mr. Christie gave two extensions last year to 191 delinquent public bodies to submit their second and third quarter 2006 contract award reports, but the agencies only complied after he vowed to take strong action against them.

"Jamaica's anti-corruption laws have not, in the past, been steadfastly enforced. Scant regard is also being paid by key stakeholders to efforts to bring probity, transparency and accountability to the public sector procurement process. It (The Office of the Contractor General) has therefore entered into force a 'zero tolerance' stance," Mr. Christie declared in his release.