OCG and the Cabinet

[Assasin]

The office of the contractor general (ocg) has expressed grave concern about the failure of the cabinet office to comply with official requests for information relating to four major projects being pursued by the administration. The ocg which is investigating the projects announced this afternoon that it has completed and submitted a special report to the houses of parliament, documenting its concerns. According to the ocg neither the cabinet nor the cabinet office has complied with the statutory requisitions over the last seven months

[Assasin]

Attorney General, Patrick Atkinson - File.
The Attorney General has described as unfortunate and inappropriate statements made by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG), accusing the Cabinet of failure to comply with several of its requisitions.

The OCG yesterday outlined its concerns in a 28-page special report submitted to the Houses of Parliament.

That document remains confidential as it is yet to be tabled in the House.

However, the OCG also issued a media release outlining its concerns.

And in a terse response, the Attorney General, Patrick Atkinson accused the Contractor General of making broad allegations, saying that issues raised by the OCG are before the court awaiting clarification and determination.

Atkinson said the Cabinet isn’t willfully ignoring or obstructing the Contractor General.

The OCG said its report outlines the Cabinet Office’s failure to provide it with information relating to four major projects being pursued by the Government.

The OCG says it was necessary to bring the matter to the attention of the parliament because of seriousness of the matters, which remain pertinent to the OCG’s monitoring and investigative mandates.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Business in the parliament, Delroy Chuck says he’ll want to examine the OCG special report to the Houses of Parliament but he believes no entity should resist the Contractor General’s lawful request.

He also concedes that the Cabinet will have to await the court ruling before complying with the OCG, if it has challenged the lawfulness of the OCG in relation to the four projects in question.

The ministry has asked the court to determine whether the OCG has the authority to requisition a three-member independent panel set up to monitor three major government projects.

The projects are the north-south link of Highway 2000, which spans Spanish Town to Ocho Rios, the Gordon Cay Container Trans-shipment hub, and the Fort Augusta Container terminal.