( L - R ) Dr Carlon Davis, Shirley Tyndall - File photos

Former Cabinet Secretary Dr Carlton Davis and his partner Shirley Tyndall launched their new consultancy Monday with what appears to be a promise to be circumspect with their knowledge of Government's inner workings to which they were privy over decades of public service.

Davis said Davis Tyndall Consultants (DTC) would not engage in any business that would be disadvantageous to the country.

"As persons who have had senior roles in government over many years, we are acutely conscious that whatever we do must, in no way, shape or form, do anything that would be disadvantageous to our country," he said at the launch.

No conflict of interest

Tyndall, who was financial secretary up to her retirement three years ago, also told Wednesday Business that DTC Limited would take on no jobs that would conflict with Jamaica's interests.

The two partners have a combined 80 or more years of experience in the civil service.

"We have to do our own internal self-regulation to determine what is appropriate and what is not appropriate to take on even if it is attractive in financial terms," said Davis.

"So we are setting our own guidelines to ensure that whatever we do is consistent with this position, having a regard to the high offices we held."

The roll-out of DTC Limited was attended by high-profile guests such as former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson - once Davis' boss and who too launched his own firm Heisconsult after he demitted office in 2006.

Davis and Tyndall is offering consulting services on public policy - formation, analysis, review, reform and implementation - as well tax policy and administration, financial sector planning, extractive industries, particularly for bauxite and alumina; institutional development, human-resource management and negotiation in piloting loan agreements and guidance of public/private-sector partnerships.

Target markets

Their target markets are developing nations, international organisation, donor agencies and corporations.

Tyndall also told Wednesday Business that the consultancy would operate as a virtual company, doing business through the Internet at www.davistyndall.com.

So far, she said, they have no major clients but have got several expressions of interest.

Meanwhile, Sir Alister McIntyre, former vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies and former CARICOM secretary general who was guest speaker at the launch, said it was welcomed news to him that DTC intends to mobilise groups and consortium to deal with projects that might arise in the region.

Frustration

"It was for me, personally speaking, something of a frustration that the Caribbean did not make much use of the European Development Fund as they might have done over course of the life of the Lomé Convention," McIntyre said.

"Meaning by that, we surprise the representatives of the European and European common market when we were negotiating Lomé I by enquiring about procedures and legalities for access to the European Development Fund for consultancy services; they did not expect to give us that at all," he explained.

However, Sir Alister said the outcome was a disappointing as only one person picked up on this and successfully negotiated a project somewhere from the Caribbean.

Tyndall said, for now, DTC remains a firm of two.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com