Christie

A split decision has reportedly emerged from Ministry of Finance officials and the Government Employees' Administrative Services Only (GEASO) monitoring committee in their recommendations to Cabinet on which of the two leading insurance companies should be awarded the largest health scheme contract for government workers.

A member of the GEASO monitoring committee told The Gleaner that the committee remained firm on its position that the contract should be awarded to Blue Cross of Jamaica Limited, the company now administering the 67,000-strong public sector scheme.

However, the original decision to award the contract to Life of Jamaica was reportedly endorsed by some government officials who participated in the talks.

For months, spanning the change in administrations, the groups have been in discussion on whom should be awarded the contract.

A critical Cabinet decision on the award of the contract, worth some $2 billion, was to be made Monday, but Information Minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange said Cabinet did not deliberate on the matter.

Serious questions raised

At the same time, Contractor General Greg Christie has raised serious questions about the past and present administrations' actions in violation of its procurement rules.

In a three-page release Monday, Mr. Christie accused the past and current administrations of disregarding the procurement rules and contract award principles as set out in the Contractor General Act (Section 4 (1).

"It is the considered view of the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) that the actions of the Government in the GEASO matter have significantly undermined the integrity and the effective enforcement capacity of the National Contracts Commission and the OCG," he said.

Mr. Christie argued that the NCC and OCG were the two independent commissions established by Parliament to ensure probity, competition, merit and transparency in the awarding of contracts.

He added, "The critical question which now arises for answer is in what circumstances will the Government choose not to be guided by the substantiated findings and recommendations of the NCC and the OCG, and by extension, by the rule of law."