Scandals Whitehouse- The Chickens are coming home

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Re: Scandals Whitehouse- The Chickens are coming h

Sandals what a hoot! It's a cult. People toss their whole lives to Butch to control. And he, their corpulant, charasmatic leader can do no wrong. Never has, and never will.

Remember when Sandals put guests up there by Negril Gardens... I think it was. Where was the high standard then? Those Sandalhypes look in the mirror and see Grand Lido.

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Re: Scandals Whitehouse- The Chickens are coming h

[ QUOTE ]
Sandals what a hoot! It's a cult. People toss their whole lives to Butch to control. And he, their corpulant, charasmatic leader can do no wrong. Never has, and never will.

Remember when Sandals put guests up there by Negril Gardens... I think it was. Where was the high standard then? Those Sandalhypes look in the mirror and see Grand Lido.

[/ QUOTE ]

This man agree with you:

When elephants fight
published: Sunday | September 10, 2006

Lambert Brown, Guest Columnist

There is an African proverb which says: 'When the elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.' In Jamaica, we are well and truly into the silly season of elections and this is when our elephants tend to fight the most. The closer the poll results are, the more the elephants are expected to fight. The likelihood of our people's suffering being greater, is therefore real, with the recently-published results of the different polls.

Take the issue of the Sandals Whitehouse fiasco. This is a classic example of the people suffering while the elephants joust for poll position. There can be absolutely no doubt in the minds of any thinking and honest Jamaican that several things went terribly wrong in the mismanagement of the construction of that south-coast hotel.

We knew from last year that the hotel took over a year longer than planned to be completed. In fact, even when it was opened in February last year, construction work was still not completed. In the hotel business, as in any other business, such delay spells economic disaster. We also knew from over a year ago that the overrun relative to budget was in the region of US$40 million. We knew also, that one of the partners in the hotel was reluctant to build without the assistance of government money. In fact, there were many false starts before government had to pump the people's money into the construction of the hotel. Simply put: without taxpayers' money, Sandals Whitehouse would only be a mere dream of Butch Stewart. The inescapable truth is that it is the Jamaican people who took the bulk of the financial risk in the hotel, not the private interest.

Ministerial responsibility

The Government is failing to admit that under the stewardship of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and its agents, the project was terribly mismanaged, and the people's money spent with gay abandon. P.J. Patterson failed to admit the errors of the UDC, for which he had ministerial responsibility. He has left an albatross around the neck of his successor Portia Simpson Miller. The Contractor General's report confirms all that we suspected to have gone wrong on the project.

Prime Minister Simpson Miller, in my view, has acted boldly in accepting the resignation of the former UDC boss. For this, she opened herself to criticism from within her own party. She placed the interest of the nation above partisan posturing. She now will have to thank the rest of the UDC board for its service over the years. Any attempt to play protector for mismanagement is going to hurt her politically. She must show that things like these, which frequently occurred under her predecessor, will not be tolerated during her tenure. She needs to separate herself and her government from the sordid practices of the past.

The private sector partner in my opinion appeared to have sat quietly by not insisting on board meetings being held, and regular updates on the project tendered and, therefore, cannot now, after the fact, claim that they are without blame. In my view, this claim lacks sincerity. Where were the letters of protest? Where were the public statements of opposition? Where were the demands for board meetings? Now people are wondering and asking why is it, that it is only after the fall-out at Air Jamaica, where some of the very same people involved in the Whitehouse overrun used to meet at board meetings, that this issue is being made public?

While we await the adjudication of the court, the issue is "top billing" in the politics of our nation. The position being adopted by the JLP and its general secretary, Karl Samuda, does not appear to me to be in the best interest of the Jamaican people. He may think it will help him in winning the battle of the elephants, but he must recall that in that battle, it is the grass that suffers.

The private partner has sued two agencies funded by the taxpayers of Jamaica. A victory in those cases for the private partner could mean the taxpayers, in addition to the US$40 million overrun, will have to pay over many more millions to those people who would not have built the hotel unless the Jamaican taxpayers took the bulk of the financial risk.

Mr. Samuda has become the vehement champion of citing facts, figures, and an alleged report that advances the case of the private interest in the dispute against the Jamaican people.

The truth is the forensic audit took us no further than the Contractor General's report did. Neither will the Auditor General or the Public Accounts Committee take us any further.

Multibillion-dollar suit

Having come out so stridently in defence of the private interest in this dispute, what will the JLP do if they win the fight of the elephants? Will the private interest be prevailed on to drop its 'multibillion-dollar suit' against the taxpayers of Jamaica? Will the JLP settle the private partner claim for the just under US$200 million as mentioned in the press reports? Frankly, based on the arguments advanced by the JLP in support of the private interest in this dispute, they would have to be doing a major flip-flop not to pay the private interest their demands. That could be over four times the US$40 million overruns.

The Jamaican people would be correct to fear that those who pay the piper will continue to call the tune in a JLP victory at the polls. They remember well how JLP MP Andrew Gallimore was ostracised by his own party for being very critical of certain private interests when he made his budget speech last year. Political opportunism by both sides hurts the Jamaican people just as the grass is damaged when the elephants fight. Our people must reject insincerity, from whichever quarter it comes.

Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers Union and can be contacted at [email protected]

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060910/cleisure/cleisure5.html

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Re: Scandals Whitehouse- The Chickens are coming h

The sins of Dennis Morrison
Dishonours two great traditions: civil service impartiality and journalistic integrity
Observer Reporter
Friday, September 15, 2006

Gorstew, one of the partners in the controversial Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project, has blasted Observer columnist Dennis Morrison, accusing him of bias and dishonesty in his commentaries on the issue.

In a letter to the Observer, Gorstew said that Morrison has compromised himself as a civil servant and should resign. Following is the full text of the letter.

Jamaica has long cherished the great tradition of impartiality in the civil service. It is one of the last bastions of our democratic way of life. And it is for this reason that we depend on our public servants to steer clear of partisan politics, evenly dividing the truth at all times.

On Wednesday, September 13, 2006, Dennis Morrison launched the most wanton attack on the principle of civil service impartiality, in respect of the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel affair. Clearly taking sides in a matter which is controversial at best, Mr Morrison has conjured up a kaleidoscope of spins and yarns, smoke and mirrors designed to confuse and bamboozle the populace.

But if he demonstrates his abject disregard for civil service impartiality, Mr Morrison also betrays another great tradition, journalistic integrity, balance and fairness. In his twice-weekly column in the Observer newspaper titled "Those cost overruns", he recklessly avoids the facts and makes dangerous insinuations unbecoming of an impartial civil servant or a columnist sworn to journalistic tenets. The question, of course, is what is Mr Morrison's motive? What is he so desperately protecting?

Dennis Morrison is no ordinary Joe. In government, he enjoys a status akin to a permanent secretary. Indeed, he is chairman or a member of several key state boards, including the Airports Authority of Jamaica, the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Jamaica Bauxite Institute, among others.

Writing a column is always a difficult undertaking for a high level civil servant. In some countries it is not allowed, and where it is, there are usually strict guidelines. For good reasons. It is always going to be difficult to divorce the public servant from the columnist. And it must be clear at all times that it is the public interest which must come first. We believe that Mr Morrison is well aware of this imperative. But that he is willing to risk it all. Again, the question is why?

In "Those cost overruns at Sandals Whitehouse", Dennis Morrison refers to the Forensic Audit Report to say that there is overcapacity and oversizing of several facilities at the hotel, including the back of house area, air conditioning and standby generator, to the tune of US$12 million.

"This means that the hotel can be expanded or another hotel built in close proximity to benefit from the investment put into this facility. My understanding is that at least one of the partners in Ackendown had been contemplating such a move," he went on to say.

Given the fact that there are disputing parties in the Whitehouse project, Public Servant Morrison has no business whatsoever in taking sides, which is clearly implied in that statement.

It is important to ask how did the auditors or Mr Morrison come to the conclusion that there was overcapacity and oversizing? We are anxious to know on what calculations was this based.

Although Gorstew did not design the air conditioning system, we are aware that the system has three chillers. One must determine what is it that the auditors saw on the day or days that they visited Sandals Whitehouse to determine if this was overcapacity.

The number of chillers being operated at any one time depends on demand. In the hottest months, two of the three are used quite extensively and the third one is reserved for down time. Where then is the overcapacity? We would like to know.

In respect of the standby generator, the term overcapacity is again questionable. Whitehouse, a 360-key hotel, has a 2,400 KW generator. For the expansion of 180 keys that brought its Antigua property to 360 keys, Sandals has ordered a 2,500 KW generator. Whitehouse has a redundancy of 50 per cent. You would expect all quality hotels to have a redundancy of 100 per cent. Where, therefore, is the oversizing? We would like to know.

And yet, the most dangerous of all is Mr Morrison's insinuation that Gorstew overdesigned Sandals Whitehouse in order to build another hotel beside it. Not even the auditors have suggested that, and if they had, they would be wrong. It is past out of order and is palpably irresponsible for a top public servant to go this far, without the facts to support him. Is he trying to influence the case which is in the courts? Because that would be dastardly.

But he goes further, because he conveniently ignores Gorstew's insistence that it asked over and over again for information on the project's finances, which the state-run Urban Development Corporation (UDC), the project manager, failed to supply until a month before the hotel was opened. Only then did we know of the massive overrun on the project. In reality, it is very difficult for the smallest of three partners to get the others to do what they should, especially in these circumstances.

We continue to maintain that there were very few changes to the original design when the change was made from a Beaches concept to a Sandals concept. Importantly, these changes led to savings. They certainly did not contribute to the massive and unconscionable overrun, as confirmed by the Forensic Audit.

But all this could have been accessed by Mr Morrison, who clearly did not want to be confused by the facts, or he would have asked to see the Heads of Agreement. He seems to have substantial more access to the UDC than Gorstew had as a partner!

It is not by mistake that Gorstew insisted on not being responsible for overruns, since we would have nothing to do with the appointment of contractors and sub-contractors. Or for that matter, operational issues relating to overall construction, as that would have been tantamount to taking a risk that was completely out of our control.

There is widespread perception that Government never seems to build anything on time or within budget. Consequently, based on that record, risking private funds in this manner would have been foolhardy. Hence that clause in the Heads of Agreement.

From the tone of his column, Mr Morrison is beginning to sound like someone who is desperately singing for his supper. Yet it is an issue far greater than anyone's supper. It goes to the heart of what we have cherished in this country. It is indeed the thin edge of the wedge. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet Secretary must act to protect the civil service order from this wanton attack by Mr Dennis Morrison.

Mr Morrison is the latest public servant to compromise himself, following the Information Minister, Mr Colin Campbell who misled the country with his honky dory report on the Whitehouse audit. How will the country be able to trust the words of these men in the future?

For the sake of civil service integrity and the honour of this administration, Mr Morrison should resign forthwith or be relieved of his public responsibilities.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html...IS_MORRISON.asp

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Contractor-general hold firm UDC misled Parliament, people

BALFORD HENRY, Observer writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006

DESPITE a consistent flood of criticisms from government members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Contractor-General Greg Christie insisted yesterday that the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) misled Parliament and the people about the award of contracts to 24 consultants on the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project in Westmoreland.

Christie stood by his statement in a letter to UDC CEO/President Marjorie Campbell on September 14 that, "we have concluded that your objective has been to substantially mislead the Parliament and people of Jamaica into believing that your procurement of consultants on the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project was not carried out in violation of applicable government procurement procedures and guidelines". The letter was distributed at yesterday's meeting.

Opposition members, especially committee chairman, Audley Shaw and members Delroy Chuck and Joe Hibbert, had to come to the defence of Christie on several occasions as government members, led by back-bencher K D Knight, kept up a barrage of questions.

Knight accused the contractor-general of falling down on the job by failing to press for missing documents from the UDC. Government members also said that Christie had sent in an incomplete report to Parliament condemning the UDC before obtaining all the available information.

At one stage, under the constant attacks, Christie confessed that he had only eight inspectors to cover over 220 public sector departments.

"The whole business of public procurement is something which needs urgent attention. I have been in office for only nine months and I have already had cause to report, in my last report to this Honourable House, that we are faced with what appears to be insurmountable problems," Christie said.

"There appears to be a culture on the part of some public bodies.in terms of complying with government-established procurement procedures with respect to the award of contracts, and also complying with requisitions emanating from the Office of the Contractor General for information," said Christie.
He added that the UDC was among the agencies that have consistently refused to abide by the procurement requirements.
Although the National Contracts Committee (NCC) became effective in 1999, interim procurement guidelines came into effect in October 2000, and the Government Procurement Procedures Handbook (GPPH) was published in May 2001, the UDC hired 24 consultants on the Whitehouse project in October 2001, without observing the rules, the contractor-general said.

Christie originally made the charge on September 6 after the UDC published an advertisement in the press claiming that the consultants were hired prior to the rules coming into effect. He had asked the UDC to produce evidence to support that claim within five working days.

However, a letter from Campbell to him on September 13, which claimed that the consultants were "selected" prior to the publication of the guidelines in May 2001 and that the interim guidelines issued in 2000 did not include consultants, failed to convince Christie and he accused the UDC of changing its story again.

"We hold firm to our assertion that you are constantly changing your story and that it appears that you have deliberately adopted a course of action which is intended to mislead the public into believing that no government procurement procedures and guideline were breached by you," Christie said.

The contractor general will return to the PAC next Tuesday morning.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html...ent__people.asp

Gorstew has a point

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Dear Editor,

I agree with Gorstew's assessment of your columnist Dennis Morrison, in your paper of September 15. However, if the man is culpable, so is the Observer, which persists in employing a busy civil servant to comment on public affairs in which he has an executive role and is obliged to carry a heavy bias. Surely, your newspaper cannot expect anything else from a government-paid person serving as chairman or member of boards, including the Airports Authority, Tourist Board and Bauxite Institute.

It puzzles me that such a heavily engaged public employee still finds time to write two wordy columns a week for the Observer, while appearing on numerous radio talk shows and attending to his own private concerns. As for journalistic ethics, Mr Morrison is no journalist and may not feel obliged to observe the time-honoured practices of the profession.

Ken Jones
[email protected]

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/letters/html/20060920T210000-0500_113130_OBS_GORSTEW_HAS_A_POINT.asp

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Re: Scandals Whitehouse- The Chickens are coming h


Mon Oct 2, 2006
JLP supporters asked to support Karl Samuda in Parliament

A huge turnout is anticipated for Tuesday's debate on the censure motion against veteran Parliamentarian Karl Samuda.

On Sunday, Leader of Opposition Business, Derrick Smith, summoned members of the 15 constituencies in Area Council One to Parliament.

He told the Jamaica Labour Party supporters that tickets to Parliament will be available Monday and early Tuesday.

The government is seeking to turn the tables on Mr. Samuda, who has been leading the attack for the Opposition on the Sandals Whitehouse controversy.

The government's opportunity came when Mr. Samuda brought what he described as a report from Head of the Port Authority of Jamaica, Noel Hylton.

Mr. Samuda told Parliament that the so-called report was turned over to the former Prime Minister PJ Patterson.

But while no outright denial has been forthcoming from Mr. Hylton concerning the existence of a report, he has flatly denied submitting one to Mr. Patterson.

For their part, Mr. Patterson, current Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller and members of the Cabinet have denied receiving the report.

This precipitated a demand by government members for Mr. Samuda to withdraw the statement.

His refusal prompted the censure motion which was taken to the House by Government backbencher, Donald Buchanan.

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Contractor-general turns to DPP

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

CONTRACTOR-GENERAL Greg Christie has written to the Director of Public Prosecutions seeking his advice on how to go about bringing criminal charges against public bodies which fail to comply with requisitions from the Office of the Contractor General for information.

He was appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at Parliament yesterday, as he wrapped up his appearance before the House committee which is examining the contractor-general's report on the controversial Whitehouse hotel project and a forensic report on the project, which was ordered by then Prime Minister P J Patterson.

Christie's letter to Kent Pantry, the DPP, dated September 28, 2006, and which was entered into the record of the PAC, read in part:
"One of the matters in respect of which I would like to seek your formal advice relates to the circumstances which would give rise to the commission of a criminal offence under Section 29 (a) & (b) of the Contractor-General's Act as well as the procedure which should be utilised by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) to initiate formal proceedings under that section.

The letter said the OCG would also like to secure the DPP's "formal and specific advice as to how it should proceed against a public body which fails to comply with an OCG requisition, dated July 11, 2006, requiring the submission, on a quarterly basis, of certain public body contract award information by specified dates".

He included related documents for the DPP's perusal.
Asked by PAC member Dr Patrick Harris (government member, Trelawny Northern) if the liaison officer the UDC provided to handle requests from the Contractor General's Office was co-operative, Christie said he couldn't answer that. He could only state that his office had made requests and had got no response. He said, however, that he was proud of his officers who had a difficult job to do and interfaced with senior public officials.

"A lot of them fear for their circumstance. They are faced with insurmountable obstacles and I can tell you, Mr Chairman, I feel very badly about the attacks the Office of the Contractor General has been subjected to, not so much for myself, but for these hard-working men and women. And I want to put that on the record."

PAC chairman Audley Shaw acknowledged the work the contractor-general was doing but, K D Knight (government member, East Central St Catherine), said that to be questioned was not the same as to be attacked.

Clive Mullings (opposition, St James West Central), pointed out that the contractor-general has the powers of a judge of the Supreme Court in respect of attendance and examination of witnesses and production of
documents.

"I believe," he added, "that this committee ought to be cognisant of the role and position of the contractor-general and not at this time attack him and be pejorative".
It was then that Christie said that he had written to the Director of Public Prosecutions, seeking his advice on how he could invoke the provisions of Section 29 with respect to offending public bodies and offending public officers who fail to comply with the directives of the Office of the Contractor General and requisitions for information.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html...RNS_TO_DPP_.asp

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Re: Scandals Whitehouse- The Chickens are coming h

http://www.jamaicans.com/forums/newreply...part=2&vc=1

It was contractor general Greg Christie, and not the PNP MPs in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), who represented the interests of the Jamaican people at a sitting of the committee on September 19 to consider reports on the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project. The country was shocked by the disgraceful treatment meted out to Christie by some government members at the sitting, all because he stuck to his guns in his crusade to clean up the mismanagement mess caused by the failure of some government entities to follow public sector procurement procedures.

Instead of supporting the contractor general they attempted to put obstacles in his way and to confuse and humiliate him, tried to shake his confidence, throw him off track and perhaps get him to throw down the gauntlet so that their cronies in the entities could continue their misdeeds. However, Christie showed signs that he would be pressing on. Good for him and the country. There are good reasons for procurement procedures. They help to make tenders for government projects fair and transparent. The truth is that for the 14 years of the Patterson administration, entities like the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) have dodged the procurement procedures in order to facilitate political cronies of the government.

When Christie requested certain information on projects, some of the entities showed disrespect to him by not responding. The UDC, for example, has failed to comply with Christie's requirement for information on the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project on which there was a cost overrun of US$43 million - money which could have been used to restore the ailing health sector, among other things. The UDC was manager of the project. Christie certainly caught the UDC with its pants down. The entity said that consultants were hired for the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project before the public sector procurement procedures came into force. When asked by the contractor general to provide documentary evidence to support the claim, the UDC was unable to do so.
The matter of the tone of the request by the contractor general for information on the national airline, Air Jamaica, should not have caused a problem between himself and Dr Carlton Davis, cabinet secretary. The contractor general, in keeping with his legal authority, made several attempts to get information from the Ministry of Finance on whether Air Jamaica was a public body, but there was no response. Dr Davis was concerned about the tone of the requests, but he had no authority to interfere whether in terms of tone or substance. In any case, one could point out that his brother, Dr Omar Davies, minister of finance and planning, was getting by with what many regard as his arrogant tone while the prime minister seemed comfortable with her strident tone at times. As it turned out, Air Jamaica had failed to comply with the government's procurement procedures since 2004.

The only way to deal with entities which fail to meet the requests by the contractor general is to enact into law with all deliberate haste, proposals by Christie. Said he in a letter to Audley Shaw, chairman of the PAC: "In point of fact, the records of past reports (contractor general's), including those from the previous contractors general, will show that this behaviour is systematic of what has been a long-standing and pervasive attitude among several public sector agencies. It is vitally imperative, therefore, that public bodies and public officers are held to book. All state organs, inclusive of the Cabinet, government, Parliament and parliamentarians, should publicly give unequivocal support to this endeavour." He suggested legislation to provide for punitive sanctions against public officials or public bodies which breach the government procurement procedures and which are not now regulated by any law of Jamaica. This is a position with which the auditor general Adrian Strachan concurs. But will the government act?

PM's jobs, Patterson's return

Only those who are not aware of the suffering of the unemployed in this country will criticise the programme announced by the prime minister to provide $635 million for a special employment programme planned to create 12,000 temporary jobs over a six-month period. Given the extent of unemployment in Jamaica, this programme might not appear to be much, but in terms of meeting some of the basic needs of 12,000 poor people, it is important.

Therefore, this column commends the prime minister for initiating the programme. But there must be an equitable distribution of the jobs and to ensure this, the programme must truly be administered by central and local government agencies, trade unions, political parties and the private sector.

When PJ Patterson said he was quitting as prime minister, he gave as his reason the desire to spend more time with his family. However, I doubt whether he will be able to do so with his big new job with an international institution and his decision to play a leading role for his party in the political campaign for the next general election. Patterson has a reputation as a shrewd political organiser, but it is left to be seen whether he will be effective, in view of signs of corruption and cases of mismanagement left behind by his administration.

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Setting the record straight

By Greg Christie Contractor General

I write with reference to certain statements, which have been made by your regular columnist, Mr. Garnett Roper, on the editorial page of your publication of October 1, 2006. Mr. Roper’s statements were published in an article which was entitled, “Scrap the Office of the Contractor General.”

Mr. Roper, it seems, has concocted, in his article, a cocktail of falsehoods, injurious innuendoes and unsubstantiated allegations against the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) and myself.

Because I am a public servant, I believe that it is in the interest of the public that I should respond promptly to those of his charges, which are likely to invite suspicion or questions, particularly if they are left unaddressed. I trust, therefore, that you will publish my entire letter in no less of a prominent manner than that in which Mr. Roper’s has appeared.

Mr. Roper has asserted that “Care was … taken to amply reward the holder of [the] Office [of the Contractor-General]. He stated that “The present office bearer, for example, lives in rented premises at a cost of more than US$3,000 per month, or approximately … J$2.6M per annum”. He then queried “the procurement process by which the contractors that provide … [the] residences were selected”. Finally, he declared that “the Contractor General’s independence is also secured by a wonderful emolument package”.

For the avoidance of doubt, I should like to clarify that the gross emoluments of the Contractor-General is presently J$4,855,608. It is composed of a Basic Salary of $3,000,000 per annum, Housing Allowance of $960,000 pa, Entertainment Allowance of $60,000 pa, Security Allowance of $21,000 pa, Library Allowance of $120,000 pa, Leave Passage of $216,900 pa and a Motor Vehicle Up-keep Allowance of $477,708 pa.

Contrary to what Mr. Roper has inferred, neither the Government of Jamaica nor the OCG provides me with, pays for, or has procured for me, any housing or living accommodations.

The costs of my personal and family accommodations, together with all associated utility and other expenses, are borne solely by my wife and I. These expenses are met from our income and our personal assets … not from the Government or OCG funds. The same is also true of the motor vehicles which we drive. They are not owned by the Government or the OCG. They were purchased by me, they are owned by me and they are 100 per cent maintained by my wife and I.

With regard to what Mr. Roper has characterised as my “personal bodyguard service” which, he says, is “slightly smaller than … four”, and which he has inferred has been privately contracted, I must categorically state that, contrary to what he has suggested, no contact has been ever awarded by the Government of Jamaica or by the OCG for “the procurement” of any security service for me.

I accepted His Excellency’s offer of appointment as Contractor-General of Jamaica with full knowledge of the foregoing emoluments, with humility, with a sense of pride and with honour and privilege. I did so with a considered willingness and desire to serve my country. In light of my decision to accept the offer, my wife and I consciously repatriated to Jamaica, from Florida, knowing full well and accepting that we would be doing so at great personal, family and financial sacrifice and, above all, at substantial personal risk.

Mr. Roper has accused me of publishing “the findings” of OCG Reports in the newspaper, via “full-page news advertisements”. He has also questioned “the procurement process through which the CG went to determine which media house to use for the publication”.

I wish to categorically state that since I have assumed office as the Contractor General on December 1, 2005, other than advertisements for vacant positions in the OCG, no advertisements of any kind whatsoever have ever been taken out by me during the same time period.

If Mr. Roper chooses to persist in his reckless and malicious falsehoods, he will clearly be obliged to forthwith substantiate his allegations by producing copies of the alleged advertisements.

Discharge of the Functions of the Contractor General
Mr. Roper has alleged that “… the CG has often taken extreme positions and used inflammatory and pejorative language from which he has had to retreat, and which appear unsupported by the evidence adduced”.

This is another irresponsible and inaccurate statement, which is incapable of any credible substantiation.

Mr. Roper, Sir, owes a duty to your readers not to disseminate falsehoods or patently injurious statements, which he cannot substantiate. Indeed, as a “Man of the Cloth”, Mr. Roper has an even higher duty. Among his guiding lights should be the ideals of honesty, truth, integrity and fairness. However, his article, quite regrettably, has disclosed and alarming deficit of these values. While one is left to ask what would have motivated a man who claims to be a Minister of Religion to descend into such a dark abyss, it is nevertheless clear that his startling actions are matched only in astonishment by his curious call for the abandonment of the OCG.

Finally, I would wish to record that despite attacks such as these, the OCG will fearlessly continue to do what is right. It will discharge its statutory mandates and functions, forthrightly and impartially, within the bounds of the law. There can be no other way about this. The OCG’s officers and myself have taken a solemn oath to do these things, to serve only the interests of the people of Jamaica and to faithfully uphold the laws of our country.

http://www.sunheraldjamaica.com/editorial5.htm

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Recklessness at Whitehouse
PAC hears how UDC lost control of cost overruns
Alicia Dunkley, Observer staff reporter
Wednesday, October 25, 2006

THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament yesterday inched closer to understanding how the controversial Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project incurred a massive US$43 million in cost overruns.

In its most telling session since it began its probe of the issue almost six weeks ago, the PAC heard that the state-run Urban Development Corporation (UDC), the project manager and one-third partner, lost control over the expenditure, as the hotel project haemorrhaged.

Soaking up much of the pressure, UDC president and chief executive officer, Marjorie Campbell admitted that things had gone awry and that the safety latch on cost overruns was not utilised by Nevalco, the UDC's site manager on the ground.
"Did the people on the ground who are committing to the expenditure receive your prior approval for increased expenditure?" PAC Chairman Audley Shaw pressed Campbell.

"No, Mr Chairman," responded Campbell, who is facing the heat as current head of the UDC, from which former chairman Dr Vin Lawrence resigned earlier this year.
Lawrence threw in the towel after the UDC was accused by Contractor-General Greg Christie of deliberately withholding key information he needed to determine how the cost overruns came to be.

Pressed further as to the reasons for "the breakdown in the approvals process", Campbell suggested it could have been caused by the fast-tracking of the project and the way in which it was implemented.

"If you are constructing the hotel using a fast-track methodology, where you are building as you design, it would be difficult to await the approval of the board for each claim," Campbell argued.

Shaw rejected the explanation, insisting that "even if the UDC was only a one-third partner and the private owners were a two-third partner, there would still be an obligation to follow the procurement guidelines because whenever there is the commission and expenditure of government funds the government procurement guidelines must be followed".

The Sandals Whitehouse project is owned one-third by the UDC, one-third by the state-run National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) and one-third by Gorstew, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart's holding company, through a joint venture called Ackendown Newtown Development Company (ANDCO). Nevalco represented UDC on the ground and Sandals is manager of the hotel.

It was originally Butch Stewart's dream of a development that would bring prosperity to Jamaica's lush and rustic south coast, by opening up the area to investment and job creation.

But the dream turned sour when the project began to bleed red ink and Sandals complained about costly delays and inferior finishing that hurt its top flight international brand, forcing it to refund huge sums to its early guests. Sandals is suing to recover its losses.

Shaw suggested to the UDC's Campbell that if the government's procurement guidelines had been observed in the Sandals project, it would not be the subject of discussion, as there were provisions for overruns based on increased costs.

"There is an approval process, there are checks and balances and there are controls in place...and what we have discovered today is that the controls were limited (or) non-existent and that is the crux of the problem..." the PAC chairman declared.

When Campbell disagreed with his suggestions, Shaw insisted: "It seemed to me the only checks and balances you had at your disposal was the approvals process and this broke down...and costs being overrun all over the place and then the bill comes to you and you just clear the bill without your prior approval."

PAC member Mike Henry upped the tempo by citing the records of a June 6, 2002 site minutes which quoted site manager, Nevalco's Alston Stewart, as saying if he had the authority he would terminate all contracts.

"Overall the project is going nowhere and if (I) had the project management's authority most of the consultants on this project would be terminated," Henry quoted an angry Stewart as saying.

"...It goes back to control again because if that statement was written in a monthly report, what action did the UDC take when such a damning statement was made by the UDC representative on the ground...? Mrs Campbell, if you can't answer that question we should ask Mr Lawrence to come and answer them," Shaw added.

The Committee noted that while costs were mentioned in several of the reports they did not reflect any discussion about the overruns, although the project manager had a responsibility to report cost overruns to ANDCO but had apparently not done so.

Shaw queried why there had been no active board for ANDCO since February of this year, and no board meetings two years prior to this.

"I think this committee has to record to the Government its concerns that despite all of the problems that have developed with Sandals Whitehouse there is no active board for ANDCO since February of this year and for the two years prior to that while all of these overruns were developing the board has not been meeting either," Shaw pointed out.

"We already know the ANDCO Board was not meeting for two years. We want to know if there was an approvals process for these overruns... The monthly reports did not necessarily have that in there so what was the process by which your approval was sought to continue the project when it was clear it needed more money?" Shaw queried.

[b]<font color="red">Later in the session, the PAC chairman instructed the UDC to undertake a thorough investigation into allegations by Sandals Whitehouse Hotel's chief engineer, Patrick Borely, that an estimated 30,000 gallons of sewage, some unfiltered, had been deposited into the wetlands in the vicinity of the Westmoreland-based hotel.

The committee sought to verify the status of a leaking sewage tank which had been causing concern for the operators of the hotel. The UDC president assured that preliminary repairs had been effected and the leaking had been somewhat reduced. Further work is to be done by an American consultant who will be arriving in the island by monthend. Campbell conceded that the leaks were caused by a combination of design and construction flaws, but insisted that repairs to the structure had been completed and that the plant was operating and functioning effectively.

Shaw suggested that the UDC report back to the PAC on its investigations, during which time it should consult with the Ministry of Health and the National Environment and Planning Agency, in the event a clean-up was necessary.</font>

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