Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
Left: Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie is passionate as he addresses journalists yesterday during a press conference at his Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation office, Church Street, downtown Kingston. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER. Right: George Lee, Mayor of Portmore
THE KINGSTON and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and the Portmore Municipal Council admitted to and apologised yester-day for breaching procurement procedures associated with the awarding of contracts.
The apologies come on the heels of findings from special investiga-tions conducted by the Contractor General which found the local authorities broke the rules.
The probes, which were commis-sioned by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller while she was Minister of Local Government, were also carried out into the procurement affairs of the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) and the Social Development Commission (SDC).
A statement posted on the Office of the Contractor General's website said that one of the reports had been forwarded to the Auditor General with a recommendation for action. The statement also revealed that "certain additional recommendations have also been submitted to the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General".
Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie, while speaking at a press briefing at the KSAC's Church Street offices yesterday, confessed that the practice of breaching procurement protocol had become "institutionalised" at the local authority over the years and predates his administration.
"As I said before, it is still no excuse for not complying. We have done so, and if I said we are sorry, we are sorry ..." he stressed.
He added: "Let me state clearly that we recognise, let me repeat, that we recognise that we have failed to follow the procurement procedure as fully as necessary."
GENUINE ERRORS
Meanwhile, his counterpart, George Lee, Mayor of Portmore, also apologised for what he labelled as his administration's genuine errors in breaching procurement regulations.
"Naturally, I could not be selfish to say we did not regret that guidelines were not followed," Mayor Lee said.
However, Mayor Lee emphasised that his council was not "trying to evade the requirements" but genuinely felt that they did not need to ask for National Contracts Commission certification from the contractors based on the value of the contracts.
Mayor Lee also said that he, too, welcomes the recommendations from the Contractor General.
Meanwhile, the People's National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) is calling for the Kingston Mayor to quit immediately. In a statement yesterday, the PNPYO described the "recent revelations of irregularities at the KSAC" as "alarming and unacceptable".
TAINTING IMAGES
However, Mayor McKenzie warned the detractors not to attempt to taint the image of the KSAC or the "innocent contractors" named in the report, insisting there was nothing illegal about having one contractor working in multiple divisions.
"Chastise and scold us for not complying, but don't try to dirty the image of the KSAC (and) the innocent contractors, who are working for the benefit of Kingston and St. Andrew."
Mayor McKenzie added that his council was not "satisfied with merely acknow-ledging guilt", but was currently working to implement the Contractor General's recommendations as quickly as possible. He also announced several in-house-generated changes that the KSAC would be implementing to ensure that breaches are discontinued.
However, Mayor McKenzie argued that the breaches were committed for the betterment of the municipality, "... not necessarily to facilitate corruption, but a response to the long delays and the bureaucratic impediments which restrict the council over the years in dealing urgently and effectively with the needs that arise within the Corporate Area and warrant our urgent attention."
