JUTC Probe – Contractor General Investigating Allegations Of Procurement Breach
For the last four months, the Office of the Contractor General has been conducting a probe into the Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited’s (JUTC) engagement of Millennium Security Limited (MSL) to provide services to the state-owned bus company, Dirk Harrison revealed yesterday.
Managing director of the JUTC, Paul Abrahams, told The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre yesterday that the company paid some $12 million to MSL for providing security at its facilities, which store spare parts and lubricants, in an effort to control theft. He said this interim arrangement was in place for eight months.
However, the contractor general told The Gleaner that he received a complaint from a citizen who raised concerns about the manner in which MSL was selected to provide services to the JUTC.
Harrison said he requested documentation from Abrahams, who has supplied some information. He is currently awaiting further material from the company.
“The JUTC had been formally advised, requisitions were sent to them, and answers have been provided, and the answers require further questions to be asked, and those are being asked of the entity,” Harrison said.
Opposition spokesman on transport, Mikael Phillips, on Wednesday charged that the JUTC had breached procurement guidelines in the awarding of a contract valued in excess of $50 million in which the brother of a member of the board has an interest.
However, Abrahams said the JUTC did not enter into a contract with MSL.
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Image: Jamaica Gleaner