Christie irks Vaz

Information minister warns that contractor general could be scaring away good people but Christie not daunted

Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

A war of words has exploded over the methods being employed by Contractor General Greg Christie.

Information Minister Daryl Vaz fired the first salvo yesterday when he expressed fresh concerns about what he described as the sensational approach of Christie as he conducts his public duties.

Vaz, who has previously questioned the operations of the Office of the Contractor General (OCG), warned that Christie could cause honest Jamaicans to shy away from the public service because of his strategy of making public announcements during the conduct of investigations.

But in a quick response, Christie hinted that he had no intention of changing his modus operandi.

"From my own personal standpoint, I think the method in which the (contractor general) investigations are initiated is becoming more and more a deterrent for persons who are being asked to serve and give back to their country ... ." Vaz told journalists yesterday at the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing.

"... (Persons) are becoming less and less willing to serve because their names are brought into the middle of what you would call disagreements between the Government and ... the contractor general," added Vaz.

He was responding to questions about the Government's reaction to a call from Christie to halt the planned sale of the Sandals Whitehouse hotel.

Information supplied

While indicating that the Government was continuing with the planned US$40-million sale to the Gordon 'Butch' Stewart-owned Gorstew Limited, Vaz said the contractor general has been provided with the information he had requested.

The information minister noted that Christie was still going ahead with his probe.

"The contractor general has a right to do what he has been mandated to do, but I would say - especially in this case with the Honourable R. Danny Williams who has served so well both in the private and the public sectors — that it is definitely an unpleasant situation," Vaz declared.

But in his response, Christie emphasised that his office is an independent anti-corruption commission of Parliament which is authorised by law to conduct investigations into the award of government contracts.

Christie said that it is unlawful for a contractor general, in the exercise of his powers, to be subject to the dictates, direction or control of any person or authority.

"If the minister does not like how the OCG approaches its investigations, or who the OCG investigates, he should simply change the law or take the requisite steps to immediately disband the commission of the contractor general," Christie fired back.

"It should also be made clear to the minister that as far as the OCG is concerned, in Jamaica no one is above the law," added Christie.

He argued that the investigation by his office are more concerned about "the regularity and propriety of the processes which are engaged by the Government in its award of contracts and the divestment of lucrative state assets".

Christie also challenged the claim by Vaz that he was proceeding with the investigation into the Sandals Whitehouse sale despite being supplied with additional information by the Government.

The information minister's comments came hours after his boss, Prime Minister Bruce Golding, opined that there was a need to re-examine the rules governing the operations of the OCG.

According to Golding, under the present legislation, the contractor general can demand details of a Cabinet submission even before it is placed before Cabinet.

Golding noted that on one occasion, a minister indicated an intention to take a matter to Cabinet and the permanent secretary in the ministry received a letter from the contractor general demanding to see the Cabinet submission that was being prepared.

"Under the law, he (the contractor general) has that power, so if the permanent secretary had drafted something in pencil on notepad, the contractor general has a right to so it," Golding told the House.

But the prime minister was quick to make it clear that he was not "attacking the contractor general".

Golding had chaired the joint select committee of Parliament which established the legislation for the operation of the Office of the Contractor General in 1983.