Cost to build Petrojam wall tripled - Senator Brown
Published:Friday | June 15, 2018 | 12:00 AM
Opposition Senator Lambert Brown is questioning whether the Andrew Holness-led Cabinet signed off on a $96 million contract to erect a wall at Petrojam, noting that the original bill of quantity estimated that the project should cost nearly $30 million.
Making his contribution to the debate on the Procurement Act in the Upper House on Friday, Brown charged that the National Works Agency (NWA) and China Harbour Engineering Company Limited had estimated that the wall would cost $29.7 million. He said that the bill of quantity was signed by a senior technocrat at the NWA and a representative from China Harbour on November 8, 2016.
"That bill of quantity outlined steel, fence, excavation, backfill, among others, plus overhead and profit for the contractor," Brown said.
According to Brown, "Efficiency would require for us to stick close to that. It has now been revealed that the work done on that fence amounted to $96 million, more than three times the bill of quantity".
"Did the Cabinet sign off on this? Did the Most Honourable Andrew Michael Holness know about this? And if he didn't, it would be a breach of the procurement rules. If he did, the question is, 'What did Mr Holness do as prime minister to protect the taxpayers from $29.7 million to $96 million?' That's a scandal! And the country needs answers to that."
He dismissed any assertions that the cost of the project escalated owing to the extension of the fencing and the use of more backfill. A copy of the bill of quantity obtained by The Gleaner showed that the estimated cost of cement amounted to $9,450,234.86; steel - $6,125,077.88; chain-link fencing and razor wire - $3,816,379.84; backfill - $2,064,640.35; excavation - $2,435,392.81, and other miscellaneous costs.
The Auditor General's Department is currently conducting an audit at Petrojam in the wake of allegations of nepotism and other major concerns at the company.