Tufton still to decide on audit at Sugar Company
Published:Friday | April 8, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of agriculture and fisheries, is yet to decide if he will be following through on the recommendations of Contractor General Greg Christie for an exhaustive audit into the financial affairs of the Sugar Company of Jamaica and SCJ Holdings Limited.
"I have not yet gotten the time to study the document," Tufton told the Financial Gleaner on Wednesday.
"When that is done, I will then make a determination."
The minister said while it was important to get answers to the concerns raised, he was more focused right now on "pilotting the industry towards complete privatisation".
Christie made the recommendations after reportedly unearthing breaches of the procurement guidelines by the sugar company during investigations into allegations of improper procurement practices, after Prime Minister Bruce Golding sent him documentation about the issue and asked that it be examined.
Christie said the Office of the Contractor General did not find sufficient evidence to suggest that the named parties colluded and conspired to defraud the SCJ, and questioned the accuracy of the allegations in regards to the purchase of agricultural equipment.
He also raised a number of questions, but concluded that irrespective of concerns about the propriety or irregularity of the bidding process, there was no evidence to indicate that the award of a contract to Jamaican firm Tyres R Us to acquire harvesters for the SCJ was unmeritorious.