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communication should be addressed to the OFFICE OF THE CONTRACTOR-

Contractor-General and the following
reference quoted:- GENERAL
PIOJ Building
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TELEPHONE No.:876-929-8560/6466 P.O. BOX 540
FAX No. : 876-929-2476
E-mail: communications@ocg.gov.jm KIN
GSTON 5

JAMAICA, W.I

MEDIA RELEASE

OCG RAISES ALARM ABOUT PROPRIETY AND LEGALITY OF CABINET DIRECTIVE –

UNABLE TO SUPPORT CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION MORATORIUM

Kingston; December 1, 2010; The Office of the Contractor General (OCG) is gravely concerned about
the legality and propriety of a reported Cabinet Policy Directive which appears to have dictated that certain
Government Works Contractors whose registration certifications are already expired, should,
notwithstanding, be deemed to be registered in their pre-existing categories and grades through to
February 28, 2011.

Section 23 (A-J) of the Contractor General Act vests in the National Contracts Commission (NCC), the
exclusive authority under the law to register Government of Jamaica contractors and to make all
determinations which are associated therewith. The NCC is an Independent Statutory Commission which
does not report to the Cabinet or to any Ministry of Government and, accordingly, cannot be lawfully
dictated to by the Government.

The Policy Directive of the Cabinet was publicly reported by way of a Jamaica Information Service (JIS)
Release which is dated November 29, 2010 but which refers to a Statement which was made on November
24, 2010, at a Post-Cabinet Press Briefing, by the Minister of Information, the Hon. Daryl Vaz.

The JIS Release states quite unequivocally that, except for contractors “… whose registration has expired
and whose applications were the subject of reports to the police for investigation for fraud … the
eligibility period for the award of Government of Jamaica contracts to all contractors registered with the
National Contracts Commission (NCC) has been extended to February 28, 2011”. (OCG Emphasis).

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The Directive, therefore, makes it clear that the Cabinet has pre-empted the NCC in the matter, despite a
letter from the Cabinet Secretary, dated November 25, 2010, to the Chair of the NCC and copied to the
Contractor General, indicating that “… Cabinet agreed that a number of policy considerations (regarding
the matter) should be placed before the National Contracts Commission (NCC) in relation to its statutory
responsibility for the registration and classification of contractors”.

Under existing NCC rules, the registration certificates of all Government Contractors automatically expire
after one (1) year following the date of issue. Consequently, all such Contractors must seek and re-obtain
re-registration from the NCC in order to legally qualify to bid or to tender on Government of Jamaica
contracting opportunities which are in excess of $275,000 in value.

By purporting to extend the validation period of expired Contractor registration certificates beyond their
legal pre-existing one (1) year validation date, the Cabinet is, therefore, usurping the lawful authority of
the NCC, in which such functions are expressly vested by Sections 23D, E, G and H of the Contractor
General Act.

In the alternative, if the NCC decides to act on the Policy Directive of the Cabinet and approve and
implement the Moratorium, its actions too could be called into question in a Court of Law.

Section 23G (1) and (2) of the Contractor General Act provides that “Any person, firm or entity desirous
of being registered and classified for the Purposes of this Part may apply to the Commission in the
prescribed manner for such registration and classification. If the Commission is satisfied that an
applicant meets the prescribed requirements, it may issue to that applicant a certificate of registration
and classification in the prescribed form”. (OCG Emphasis).

However, having regard to what is being proposed, the NCC would clearly not have satisfied itself “…
that an applicant meets the prescribed requirements” since the very objective of the Moratorium is to
legitimize the registration of Contractors who have not been duly re-registered with the NCC or whose
bona fides have not yet been properly established and certified. Accordingly, in all such circumstances, the
NCC would be acting outside of the law and, therefore, illegally.

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Further, it is also critical to note that “the prescribed form” of all NCC Contractor registration certificates,
which are currently in existence, confines the validity period of a Contractor registration to one (1) year
with absolutely no provision for the type of ‘extension’ that the Cabinet’s Policy Moratorium is
purportedly attempting to prescribe. Contractors must seek and secure re-registration – not ‘extensions’.

The OCG is also concerned that the reported Cabinet directed Moratorium will, as a matter of certainty,
undermine and compromise the integrity of the processes which have been established, under the law, to
ensure that Works Contractors who are permitted to bid on Government contracts, have been properly
graded and certified as having the requisite physical assets, financial resources, professional expertise, and
prior works experience to execute the contracts which are likely to be awarded to them.

The NCC, if its proceeds with the Moratorium, would also be acting in clear violation of the Revised
Procurement Procedures Handbook (RPPH) – and, by extension, the Procurement Regulations – which
currently provides, in innumerable instances, that only lawfully NCC registered Contractors can tender on
Government contracts.

In his meeting with the Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, on November 17, 2010, when the matter
of the Moratorium was discussed, the Contractor General, Greg Christie, was emphatic in his declaration
that the OCG, with respect, could not and would not support the Cabinet Directive for these very reasons.

The Contractor General had also respectfully advised the Prime Minister that, to the extent that the
Moratorium would permit uncertified Contractors to tender on and to receive Government contracts, the
Moratorium would have introduced a grave element of irregularity and impropriety into the Contractor
registration process in clear violation of Section 4 (1) of the Contractor General Act.

The Contractor General reminded the Prime Minister that Section 4 (1) of the Contractor General Act
expressly mandates a Contractor General to “monitor the award and implementation of Government
contracts with a view to ensuring that (i) such contracts are awarded impartially and on merit and (ii) the
circumstances in which each contract is awarded or … do not involve impropriety or irregularity”.

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The meeting at which the subject discussions were held, was convened by the Prime Minister and was
attended by the Prime Minister, his Permanent Secretary, the Chair of the NCC, the President of the
Jamaica Master Builders Association, the Senior Director of the OCG and the Contractor General.

The OCG, in previous Media Statements, and as recently as November 18, 2010 in its special reports to a
Special Joint-Select Committee of Parliament, has expressed its grave concern about the alarming levels of
false representations and outright fraud which it has discovered in previous and pending applications
which have been submitted, through the OCG, to the NCC, by Contractors who are seeking re-registration
status.

Over the past two (2) months, the OCG, which provides administrative and technical support services to
the NCC, despite its limited human resources, has undertaken an aggressive campaign to identify Works
Contractors who may have submitted applications to the NCC in which they have misrepresented their
financial resources, their professional, technical, managerial competence and experience, their physical
assets and the types of works projects which they have previously executed.

Of just over 170 previously outstanding Works Contractor re-registration applications which have been
assessed by the OCG, approximately 50 have disclosed evidence of fraudulent representations. These
applications have been withdrawn by the OCG for further investigation and for potential referral to the
Fraud Squad.

Another 105 of the re-registration applications were found to be lacking in material NCC required
supporting documentation, in consequence of which the Applicants, with the full knowledge of the NCC,
were advised both verbally and in writing to comply with the NCC requirements within a four (4) week
window, which ended yesterday, November 30, 2010, failing which the applications would automatically
lapse.

However, only 48 of the 105 applicants complied with the requirement, which means that the remaining 57
Contractor Applicants no longer have standing re-registration applications before the NCC. Despite this,
however, if the Cabinet imposed Moratorium stands, these 57 Contractors, despite the fact that they have

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out-rightly failed to satisfy the NCC of their bona fides, would, notwithstanding, be permitted to tender on
Government contracts.
Likewise, the 48 Contractors whose documentation are currently being examined by the OCG to establish
their legitimacy, would also, notwithstanding, be prematurely ‘let through’ under the terms of the
Moratorium.

The reported ‘Moratorium’ Policy Directive of the Cabinet which seeks to ‘validate’ the registration of
Contractors whose registrations have already lapsed by operation of law, or to ‘validate’ the registration of
Contractors whose grading and categorization bona fides have not yet been legitimately established in
keeping with the NCC’s own existing rules and procedures is, to say the least, a highly questionable and
very dangerous and reckless act being perpetuated in the name of the Government and State of Jamaica.

The OCG has already made overtures, through the good offices of the NCC and directly to the Prime
Minister himself, for the allocation of additional human resources, to enable it to expedite the processing
of outstanding Contractor applications and to effectively and efficiently address the situation going
forward. However, and quite surprisingly, these overtures have borne absolutely no fruit.

The OCG cannot lawfully direct the Cabinet, the Government of Jamaica and/or the NCC, as to how they
should conduct their affairs. However, the OCG, as an Independent Commission of the Parliament of
Jamaica, which was established by law to “ensure”, among other things, propriety and regularity in the
Government contracting process, which includes the Government Contractor registration process, will not
hesitate to forthrightly and independently discharge its Statutory mandate and to let its positions be
publicly known.

In a May 2010 Transparency International Publication which is entitled ‘Corruption and Public
Procurement’, it was revealed that “… the high death tolls as a result of the devastating earthquakes in
China (2008), Haiti (2010), India (2001) and Turkey (1998) were partly blamed on alleged corruption in
the construction of public buildings, including schools and hospitals”. The Publication was distributed at
the recent International Anti-Corruption Conference which was convened in Bangkok and which was
attended by the Contractor General.

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Copies of the TI Publication were personally handed by Mr. Christie to Ms. Onika Miller, the Permanent
Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Ray McIntyre, the Chair of the NCC, and Mr. Raymond
Cooper, the President of the Jamaica Master Builders Association, on November 17, 2010, when the entire
matter regarding the Moratorium was discussed with the Prime Minister.
The OCG, therefore, remains alarmed that the Cabinet, despite being warned, has chosen the route of this
highly irregular and apparently unlawful ‘Moratorium’ as the way for resolving the subject crisis. The
Cabinet’s Directive will, as a matter of certainty, (a) expose the Government Contractor registration
process to corruption, irregularity and impropriety – the very mischief that the OCG has been working
assiduously to cauterize, (b) unleash uncertified, incompetent and under-resourced contractors upon the
Jamaican Taxpayer and (c) pose significant threats to property, life and limb, since the integrity of the
work which the referenced Contractors will carry out in their execution of public works contracts cannot,
in any circumstances, be assured.

In a five (5) page letter which was dated November 30, 2010, the Contractor General has registered his
grave concerns regarding the matter with the Chair of the NCC, Mr. Raymond McIntyre.

In his letter, the Contractor General advised that, in light of the OCG’s concerns about the impropriety and
illegality of the Moratorium under the provisions of the Contractor General Act, the OCG “wishes to use
this opportunity to formally disassociate itself from any decisions of the NCC and the Government of
Jamaica which may be taken which are in keeping with the terms of the said Moratorium”.

The Contractor General also stated that the OCG, which is an Independent Commission of Parliament,
would “continue to lawfully discharge its statutory mandate, under the Contractor General Act, to
provide to the NCC such technical and administrative support as the NCC may require to enable it to
lawfully discharge its own mandates under the said Contractor General Act”.

The OCG’s letter was copied to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate,
the Chair of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament which is currently examining the Reports of the
Contractor General, the Hon. Prime Minister, the Cabinet Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the
Solicitor General.

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A copy of the referenced letter, which was also sent by the Contractor General to Mr. Raymond Cooper,
the President of the Jamaica Master Builders Association, is appended, herewith, for the information of the
Media.

-END-
Contact: The Communications Department, Office of the Contractor General of Jamaica
C/o Craig Beresford, Senior Director of Monitoring Operations, Corporate Communications and
Special Projects
E-mail: communications@ocg.gov.jm. Tel: 876-929-8560; Direct: 876-926-0034; Mobile: 876-564-1806