Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Christie ... 'is serious about serving his country'. - File
The research was headed by Greg Christie, who has been Contractor General since December. His report, tabled in Parliament last Tuesday, concluded that there were overruns of US$41 million in the construction of the Westmoreland luxury hotel which was completed in early 2005.
Mr. Christie's sensational report charged that the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the Gordon 'Butch' Stewart-owned Gorstew Ltd. were primarily responsible for the project going way over budget.
Dr. Vin Lawrence yesterday resigned as board chairman of the UDC, which oversaw construction of Sandals Whitehouse, while Mr. Stewart is chairman of the Sandals hotel chain.
Both men have issued statements to media denying charges of procedural irregularities on their part. But Mr. Christie, 51, stood by his report.
"Having carefully read your comments, I must respectfully advise that the Office of the Contractor General reiterates and stands firmly behind each and every one of its findings and conclusions as are set out in the referenced report," he responded in a letter to Dr. Lawrence.
'VINTAGE GREG'
Pressed by the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has vowed a comprehensive investigation into the matter.
Dr. Alfred Sangster, who has known Mr. Christie from the latter's days at Kaiser Bauxite company, described his rebuttal of Dr. Lawrence's letter as 'vintage Greg'.
"He has always been quite forthright and I have always found him to be a reasonable man," Dr. Sangster told The Gleaner. "He is also serious about serving his country."
Last week, Mr. Christie declined an interview with The Gleaner. He said speaking with the press would suggest he was hogging the limelight when a serious issue was on the table.
Since he was sworn in as Contractor General seven months ago, Mr. Christie has placed several serious issues on the table. These include questioning procurement procedures at the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC), the Social Development Commission (SDC) and Air Jamaica. He has also ordered his office to monitor contracts that are awarded to the relatives of public officials which include Members of Parliament.
Until the release of the Sandals Whitehouse report, the KSAC issue was the most sensational. The Contractor General's report into operations there found that contracts were awarded without being put to tender. New arrangements for the issuing of contracts have since been put in place at the KSAC.
WORK AND FAMILY
Greg Christie succeeded Derrick McKoy as Contractor General. He took the job with strong credentials, having worked with Kaiser as a senior executive for 13 years.
That job saw him working here and in the United States. He was based in Tampa, Florida, as vice-president and assistant general counsel of Kaiser's Global Commodities Business Unit, when the company shut down operations in 2004.
Prior to his job with Kaiser, Christie was a lecturer in the Law Faculty of the University of the West Indies' (UWI) Mona, Cave Hill and St. Augustine campuses for 10 years.
Born in New Roads, Westmore-land, Christie is the second of five children for parents who were both teachers. His mother, the late Carmen Christie, was also a playwright who penned the popular radio drama, The Fortunes of Flora Lee.
Greg Christie, who is a graduate of Campion College and the UWI, has been married to the former Janice Anderson for 27 years.
If people believed that the Office of the Contractor General is just another state agency where bureaucrats cover for politicians, then that perception changed last week with the release of its probe into
the Sandals Whitehouse hotel.
Inside the Office of the Contractor General
Composition
The Office of the Contractor General (OCG) essentially comprises the administrative, technical and secretarial personnel who are retained and employed by the Contractor General to assist in the discharge of his respective functions and mandates under the Contractor General Act.
Location
At 17 Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston.
Structure
Currently, the staff organisation of the OCG is structured into five divisions.
(1) Finance and administration.
(2) Technical services.
(3) The inspectorate for construction contracts.
(4) The inspectorate for non-construction contracts, licences and permits.
(5) Information systems.
Services to National Contracts Commission
The OCG, through its technical services division, also acts as the secretariat for the National Contracts Commission (NCC). The NCC is a separate and distinct independent commission whose primary objectives are the "promotion of efficiency in the process of award and implementation of government contracts and ensuring transparency and equity in the awarding of such contracts."
The OCG ensures that all of the NCC's technical, administrative and human resource service requirements are fully satisfied to enable it to effectively and efficiently accomplish its objectives and mandates under the law.
Roughly one-third of the OCG's operating costs are currently allocated to provisions which are made on account of the NCC.
Because of its subsidiary role as a resource provider to the NCC, the OCG and hence, the Contractor General, are privy to the activities and deliberations of the NCC.
However, this does not elevate the OCG and the Contractor General to the level where they usurp the contract endorsement or other authority of the NCC. Such authority is the NCC's alone.
