THE REPORT of the Contractor-General has unearthed more details concerning the award of a contract to Cara Catering Services Ltd., for the supply of meals to inmates at the adult correctional facilities.
The contract that was awarded to Cara Caterers some three years ago was unusual in several respects.
In the first place the company was given an advance in the region of $14 million to put it in a position where it would be able to supply 5,000 meals on a daily basis for prisoners at the Tower Street and St. Catherine Rehabilitation Centres.
Secondly, at the time of the award the principals in Cara Catering had no known previous experience in catering although this was listed in a Cabinet submission as a factor in favour of the award.
Other inconsistencies have emerged now that the Contractor-General has examined the matter. The former Commissioner of Corrections, Lt. Col. John Prescod, had said that five bids had been received for the contract. According to the Contractor-General two bids were received, one from Cara and the other from Industrial Caterers.
A Committee that was set up within the Correctional Services in January 1999, to review the proposals found both unacceptable and recommended that the contract be re-entered. But in March 1999 the contract was awarded to Cara Caterers.
During his investigations the Contractor-General was unable to find the proposal from Cara. The files had disappeared from the offices of the Correctional Services and the police had been called in to investigate the matter of the missing files.
The mystery deepens. Investigations by the Contractor-General have revealed that Cara Caterers was incorporated as a company and received a Taxpayers Registration Number, TRN, after it was awarded the catering contract. This happened despite the requirement of the Ministry of Finance that bidders on Government contracts must be in possession of a valid TRN.
The Contractor-General says further that the contract, which was valued at $58.5 million, exceeded the sum that could be awarded by any Department or Ministry without prior review by the Government's Contracts Committee.
The Contractor-General has concluded that the contract was not awarded on merit, that the process was not transparent, and its fairness questionable.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
