Jamaica
The Ministry of Health and Wellness has committed to strengthening its fiduciary management systems to support greater transparency in its procurement processes.
This promise follows the conclusion of the Integrity Commission’s investigation into the award of contracts to Market Me Consulting.
The government contracts worth nearly $80 million were awarded to the consulting firm between January 2016 and December 2020 for the Jamaica Moves campaign.
The IC report that was tabled Tuesday in the House of Representatives concluded that the use of direct contracting breached the Ministry of Finance’s guidelines which limit this method to contracts valued below $1.5 million.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Wellness said it acknowledges the finding that there was no wrongdoing in the actions of its team, but it recognises the recommendations of the Commission and the need to strengthen the procurement processes in order to mitigate the perceptions as defined in the report.
The Ministry says it takes a special note of the finding on contract splintering and the recommendation found in Section 7(4) of the IC report where the Commission advises that the Ministry should desist from engaging in actions that may give this appearance.
Contract splintering refers to the artificial division of a larger purchase or project into multiple smaller contracts to circumvent procurement rules such as competitive bidding.
In its defence, the Health Ministry said, while some of the transactions highlighted in the IC report could give the appearance of splintering, careful analysis would show, among other things, that the invoices were for reimbursement for goods and services already received and utilised for the implementation of activities in the Jamaica Moves campaign.
It said, once the matter was raised with the executive management of the Ministry, all efforts were immediately made to seize all further advance payments to Market Me.
Actions were also taken to regularise the transactions through the payment of the outstanding reimbursements and finalise the procurement process for a new contract to avert any further need for advance payments by the company and any subsequent payment for reimbursement.
While the IC investigation found no direct evidence that Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton participated in the award of contracts, it concluded that his introduction of Market Me and friendship with its co-managing director Lyndsey McDonnough created a perceived conflict of interest.
It has recommended that the findings related to Dr. Tufton’s conflict of interest be referred to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and that the permanent secretary should determine whether the government suffered any financial loss.
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