ON THE advice of Solicitor-General Michael Hylton, Q.C., the Government said it will not be paying $11 million in claims to Von Hoffman Corporation, the American print firm which was contracted to provide books last year under the 2003/2004 Primary School Textbook Programme.
Maxine Henry-Wilson, Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, told The Gleaner yesterday that the decision was made after consultation with Mr. Hylton. "The Solicitor-General said we had no obligation to pay them any more," Mrs. Henry-Wilson said.
In 2003, Von Hoffman became the first foreign firm to receive the contract to provide books for the annual programme, beating local firms, including The Gleaner Co. Ltd., with a $51.6 million bid.
But the U.S. company later requested an additional $11 million, citing the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar. The Government, through the Attorney-General's Department, pointed that the contract was "fixed" in Jamaican dollars and, therefore, "the fee could not be subject to fluctuations in currency value."
Three months ago, Burchell Whiteman, the Information Minister, disclosed that the Government had sought the assistance of the Solicitor-General to determine whether the payment should be made.
But in October, when the request was initially revealed in the Senate, Opposition members argued against any increase to the fee paid on the fixed-price contract.
Opposition Senator Bruce Golding had queried the Government's consideration of the request, suggesting that an adjustment to a fixed-price contract would set a "definite precedent" on which other companies would act in the future.
For the 2004/2005 school year, Cabinet approved a $48 million contract for Trinidadian company, Eniath's Printing Service, for the Government's primary textbook programme.
