Dear Editor,
The recent findings by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) of gross nepotism by the former mayor of Lucea in the awarding of contracts, and the subsequent ruling by the Director of Public Prosecutions on the matter, bring into sharp focus the urgent need for institutional, departmental and capacity-building reform in all the local authorities and municipalities.
During my tenure as a local government legislator/councillor, I saw the blatant weakness in the processes and moved several motions in meetings of the Trelawny Parish Council to strengthen the system.
The process by which contracts are awarded, especially those below the threshold of $125,000, has left a lot to be desired and, in most if not all cases, is influenced by the councillor in whose division the project is awarded. This is where nepotism, cronyism and corruption rear their ugly heads. Contractors in this category are generally the councillors' loyalists -- or in the case of Councillor Haughton her families.
Being a former chairman of the procurement committee and vice-chairman of the finance and audit committee of my parish council I made strong recommendation that all contracts above $1 must be awarded by the procurement committee, and not by the Road and Works Department, which can be heavily influenced by the political directorate. Although this would have been contrary to the rules of the OCG, that rule could have been easily amended to facilitate the shift.
There was a motion I tabled in 2007 to make the procurement committee, which assesses tenders, independent of a majority of parish council staff. In fact the motion recommended that the committee be divested of all members of the political directorate and be chaired by a member of civil society, preferably a member of the parish development committee with the requisite technical capacities. Interestingly, I could not even get a seconder for the motion, causing it to die on the vine.
The drivers of the policy direction of the councils are hell-bent on maintaining the status quo, and if one dares to contest it, you kick against the pricks and become the black sheep.
I can recall in 2011 when I used the floor of the council to call on former Prime Minister Bruce Golding to halt JDIP, based on my observations. It almost caused me my political career but for the intervention of Golding himself. I went on further to beg of the the present Government and Opposition not to relax the procurement to facilitate easy access to contracts, but this seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
The public ought to know that individuals and institutions, such as party faithfuls and the church, all bring pressure to bear on the political directorate to cash in on a weak and loose system.
All is not lost, however. With local government reform now on the front burner, the time is now right to fix this weak and loose system, strengthening against "mistakes" such as those of Councillor Haughton.
Fernandez Smith
fgeorgesmith@yahoo.com
Local governance too loose and weak
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The recent findings by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) of gross nepotism by the former mayor of Lucea in the awarding of contracts, and the subsequent ruling by the Director of Public Prosecutions on the matter, bring into sharp focus the urgent need for institutional, departmental and capacity-building reform in all the local authorities and municipalities.
During my tenure as a local government legislator/councillor, I saw the blatant weakness in the processes and moved several motions in meetings of the Trelawny Parish Council to strengthen the system.
The process by which contracts are awarded, especially those below the threshold of $125,000, has left a lot to be desired and, in most if not all cases, is influenced by the councillor in whose division the project is awarded. This is where nepotism, cronyism and corruption rear their ugly heads. Contractors in this category are generally the councillors' loyalists -- or in the case of Councillor Haughton her families.
Being a former chairman of the procurement committee and vice-chairman of the finance and audit committee of my parish council I made strong recommendation that all contracts above $1 must be awarded by the procurement committee, and not by the Road and Works Department, which can be heavily influenced by the political directorate. Although this would have been contrary to the rules of the OCG, that rule could have been easily amended to facilitate the shift.
There was a motion I tabled in 2007 to make the procurement committee, which assesses tenders, independent of a majority of parish council staff. In fact the motion recommended that the committee be divested of all members of the political directorate and be chaired by a member of civil society, preferably a member of the parish development committee with the requisite technical capacities. Interestingly, I could not even get a seconder for the motion, causing it to die on the vine.
The drivers of the policy direction of the councils are hell-bent on maintaining the status quo, and if one dares to contest it, you kick against the pricks and become the black sheep.
I can recall in 2011 when I used the floor of the council to call on former Prime Minister Bruce Golding to halt JDIP, based on my observations. It almost caused me my political career but for the intervention of Golding himself. I went on further to beg of the the present Government and Opposition not to relax the procurement to facilitate easy access to contracts, but this seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
The public ought to know that individuals and institutions, such as party faithfuls and the church, all bring pressure to bear on the political directorate to cash in on a weak and loose system.
All is not lost, however. With local government reform now on the front burner, the time is now right to fix this weak and loose system, strengthening against "mistakes" such as those of Councillor Haughton.
Fernandez Smith
fgeorgesmith@yahoo.com
Local governance too loose and weak
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