The Board of the Water and Sewerage Corporation has decided to bring criminal charges against certain individuals in the wake of a Forensic Audit that found what its Chairman termed tendering and procurement irregularities, suspected misappropriation of assets and questionable undertakings.
With an update in the House of Assembly yesterday, Long Island MP, and WSC Chairman, Adrian Gibson, publicly announced the dismissal of WSC’s general manager and the appointment in the person of CPA Elwood Donaldson, an 18-year veteran of WSC.
“Notably, both the CFO and the AGM for human resources will soon be on retirement leave and there are additional EXCOM reforms on the horizon, he said.
“We have also shifted senior managers and middle managers for more efficient operations at WSC. Further we will reposition departments and place them into their proper division,” he added.
“The board of directors will soon embark on a right sizing exercise, offering voluntary separation packages to WSC employees. Notably the average age for WSC is nearly 50.”
According to Gibson, the forensic audit was spurred by findings that ranged from Tendering and procurement irregularities from RO plants and monopolies associated; renewal of 10 and 20 year contracts without open bids.
In addition, there was also inappropriate Board/Executive manipulation in the selection of vendors; contracts being awarded to vendors who were not selected or did not participate in the tendering process; unusual contractual terms; and instances where the tender process was simply not followed.
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Acting on lessons learned from a devastating 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the World Bank are partnering with governments of countries in the Region to harness public procurement to improve disaster preparedness and response.
A recent World Bank study found that disasters impact gross domestic product in developing states, at a rate 20 times higher than in industrialised nations, causing greater disruption and severe consequences for vulnerable members of society.
“At the heart of the issue, is the management of the procurement and contracting process within the public sector,” Cheryl Dixon, Coordinator, Environmental Sustainability Unit, CDB told regional procurement and emergency response officials attending a Procurement in Emergency Situations workshop at the Bank on June 4 and 5.
With natural hazards increasing in frequency and intensity, Dixon stressed the importance of a greater understanding of why procurement under these conditions is unique, adding that too often, public procurement frameworks and systems do not give sufficient attention to procurement in the context of disasters.
“Procurement to prepare for and respond to natural disasters is an area of specialism within the broader public procurement field,” she said. “Systems that fail to respond effectively during and after disasters can have long-term negative impacts on the recovery and resilience of societies,” Dixon added.
During his presentation to workshop participants, Joao Veiga Malta, Practice Manager, the World Bank Group, emphasized the need for procuring entities to have flexibility in how they procure goods, works and services required for disaster response.
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Ongoing repairs to sections of the hurricane-ravaged Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) Road Town campus have suffered a number of setbacks and will no longer be ready for September 2018, Education Minister Myron Walwyn has said.
It is now being projected to be completed within the first term of next academic year, which starts in September.
The Education Ministry is repairing the L-shaped building at ESHS’ Road Town campus so senior students can return to that location while junior students remain at the de facto Pasea Estate school campus.
“It was our hope that we would have gotten this building repaired for September 2018, but there is an inordinate amount of technical work that has to be done,” Minister Walwyn said.
“Despite the Ministry’s commitment to the ESHS rehabilitation, there are several challenges and time-consuming procedures that have posed a threat to the September 2018 [target],” he explained.
The education minister made the statement this week while delivering another of his updates on the overall progress of territorial education.
Electrical system destroyed
The 2017 hurricanes destroyed the school’s electrical system and the main feed has to be replaced.
Walwyn said panels, wiring, lights and fixtures also need replacing on all four floors of the L-shaped building before it becomes student-ready.
“We have taken a holistic approach to the rebuilding of the L-shaped building at ESHS and have formally sought the assistance of the Ministry of Finance in making a request for the repair work at ESHS to be added into the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Loan package,” he said.
Walwyn further said sourcing doors and windows have proved to be another stumbling block.
“Under the CDB loan guideline, procurement of material must be from a member country which does not include the United States of America and Puerto Rico – countries from which most goods in the Virgin Islands are imported from.”
CDB loan ‘vigorous’
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Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, has announced that a Procurement Commission is to be established by year end.
Speaking at Sterling Asset Management Limited’s annual investor forum briefing, at the Spanish Court Hotel, New Kingston, on June 7, the Minister said the Commission will oversee the government procurement process, for which the existing regime is being revamped, consequent on amendments to the Procurement Act, which was passed in Parliament recently.
Dr. Clarke said the accompanying Regulations will shortly be tabled and debated in the Houses of Parliament, thereby paving the way for the Commission’s establishment.
This, he added, will facilitate work on other measures that “we need to take to put the Procurement Commission in place”.
These, Dr. Clarke pointed out, include recruiting suitable staff and undertaking the requisite training, while emphasising that the overall process “will usher in a new regime that will benefit many companies”.
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Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, is expected to make a statement on the regulations to the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act 2018, when the House of Representatives sits again tomorrow.
The minister is expected to address the “special and differential treatment measures,” which are to be included in the regulations to protect local bidders for procurement contracts with the government, especially operators of medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMES).
OBSERVER ONLINE understands that the government intends to ensure that at least 20 per cent of the contracts under the new Procurement Act will be guaranteed for local MSMEs, while another 20 per cent will protect special and differential treatment of other local businesses.
Clarke, who piloted the amending Bill through the House of Representatives last week, said that the new Bill will ensure that the provisions of the substantive Act are effective in keeping Jamaica within internationally accepted standards and procedures for public procurement and will be in place with the of the substantive Public Procurement Act which although passed previously in the House has still not been implemented.
It is understood that the original Act which is awaiting these developments for implementation seeks to regulate the procurement of goods, works and services by public procuring entities.
Clarke noted that the Government, as the single biggest spender in Jamaica, is committed to using procurement strategically to drive key polices aimed at creating a pillar for sustainable economic growth and increased economies of scale.
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