Christie

Contractor General Greg Christie is warning the members of the Government's Employees Administrative Services Only (GEASO) monitoring committee not to fool themselves into thinking they have won because they were successful in getting a review of the Ministry of Finance and Planning's recommendation to award the more than $2 billion GEASO health scheme to Life of Jamaica (LoJ).

After coming under pressure from the various unions that represent the 67,000-strong public sector workers under the health scheme, the Finance Ministry admitted that it erred by excluding the monitoring committee from critical stagesof the selection process.

A review is currently under way, but Mr. Christie has insisted that the awards process that resulted in the ministry's recommendation of LoJ - which was subsequently endorsed by the National Contracts Commission - was transparent.

"While the current GEASO review process may appear to be a victory for the GEASO monitoring committee, the victory may nonetheless be short lived," read, a section of a letter Mr. Christie sent to The Gleaner, yesterday.

No provision

He explained that the established government procedures made no provision for the GEASO monitoring committee to have an impact on the awarding of the contract.

"If the right of the GEASO monitoring committee to participate in the Government contract award process is not embodied in the GPPH (Government's Procurement Procedures Handbook), or secured under the law, then the committee will have nothing more than an illusory right - a right which is likely to evaporate should it be challenged in the appropriate forum," he said.

Mr. Christie also noted that whatever results from the current GEASO contract award process, genuine efforts should be made to ensure that the appropriate due process measures are taken to effectively enshrine the desired rights of the public servant in the GPPH and under the law.

Just over a month ago, The Gleaner broke news that a major shake-up was looming in the health insurance industry as the GEASO health scheme, which is the single largest health insurance scheme in the country, was about to change hands.

However, since then, the unions representing public sector workers have been clamouring for the scheme to remain with Blue Cross.