Jarrett blames JC board for contract sabotage

The Jamaica College Old Boys' Association (JCOBA) has painted acting principal Wayne Robinson as a meddling interloper and accused the school board of sabotage in a roller-coaster dispute over a botched uniform and merchandise sales contract.

In a Gleaner interview on Monday, a day after the board of management of Jamaica College (JC) and its trust held a meeting threatening a lawsuit if an account was not given for the funds, JCOBA secretary Kevin Walker accused the leadership of deliberately seeking to damage the reputation of Major Basil Jarrett.

Jarrett, who is the president of JCOBA, has been locked in a public spat with JC's leadership over the handling of former principal Ruel Reid's departure from the position.

Reid resigned as minister of education, youth and information in 2019 shortly before being slapped with fraud and corruption charges. He had spent three years on secondment to the ministry and eventually cut a multimillion-dollar severance deal in 2021.

“I am amazed at the depths to which this board has stooped to discredit Major Jarrett, someone who has always acted with integrity, transparency, and accountability and is much revered by the old boys globally,” Walker said.

“To this day, we are still uncertain as to what their problem is with him as their reasons seem to shift daily.”

The school is asking JCOBA to account for US$20,494.26, or J$3,176,610.30, to Joseph Sports Inc, the company that supplied the uniforms and other merchandise for sale.

Robinson told more than 100 stakeholders during a Zoom meeting on Sunday that JCOBA was assigned to manage sales and that the school is yet to receive any money or an account of the expenditure.

However, in a March 3 letter signed by Jarrett and sent to Robinson, a copy of which The Gl eaner obtained from documents the school provided to stakeholders, JCOBA took exception to the request for a declaration of expenditure, while insisting that it was used as part of COVID-19 relief efforts.

“Historically, we know of no other attempt by a Jamaica College principal to insert himself into the operational activities of stakeholders, particularly in their relationship with suppliers. It is of great concern to the JCOBA that you have chosen to deliberately and publicly interfere with our operations, especially in a manner that cripples our ability to support the school financially,” Jarrett said in the letter.

He further stated that between August 2020 and December 2021, JCOBA took US$49,353.15 worth of uniforms and merchandise from the supplier at an exchange rate of US$1:J$130 (J$6,415,909.50).

Jarrett said to date, JCOBA has made two payments to the supplier of US$3,846.15 through Harwyn Limited on November 25, 2020, and another of US$7,675 on December 15, 2021, through JC.

He said a balance of US$37,832.00 was left.

The JCOBA president said in January, Robinson “inexplicably sequestered” US$21,183.63 worth of merchandise from the association and subsequently demanded immediate payment of US$20,494.26 outstanding to the supplier.

He said it was also discovered that JCOBA was not credited with the US$3,846.15 payment made to Harwyn Limited, which would have reduced the outstanding balance from US$20,494.26 to US$16,648.11, or J$2,630,401.38.

Jarrett's letter said that the outstanding debt reflects money donated to the school during the two-year pandemic.

Contributions were made to the track, football, table tennis, and Schools' Challenge Quiz teams, as well as student welfare support in the form of tablets, data, laptops, and care packages.

Jarrett said invoices and receipts can be provided to substantiate the claims.

Additionally, he said that the debt was also incurred as a result of a cash-flow decision by JCOBA to prioritise meeting the urgent needs of the school over the immediate clearing of the arrears with the supplier.

“We did this because we knew how badly the school needed the support and because we had anticipated being able to clear this debt, once full face-to-face school returns and uniform demand and sales had increased,” he said, suggesting that the remaining uniforms and merchandise taken from JCOBA be returned.

Jarrett said this would allow the entity to address the outstanding amount owed to the supplier and to continue to support the school.

“Failure to do so will be interpreted as you assuming the liability of the outstanding amount to the supplier,” he said.

“This self-sabotaging attempt to starve the JCOBA of funds and to besmirch our reputation by deliberately misrepresenting the status of this account will also be interpreted as a continuation of the malicious attacks on the association which we urge you and others connected to the Jamaica College school board to cease and desist from doing.”

In a response letter dated March 7, Robinson maintained that no account of how the money was used was provided, despite several requests.

The acting principal chided Jarrett, arguing that he remained “unapologetic and, in fact, belligerent” after being asked to account for the money and goods managed on behalf of the school.

In a final demand for payment letter dated March 11, a copy of which was seen by The Gleaner, Joseph Sports Inc gave the school a March 25 deadline to pay its debt.

It said failure to do so would result in court proceedings.