The Office of the Contractor General (OCG) has given a final reprieve to delinquent public bodies, which are yet to submit two outstanding Quarterly Contract Award (QCA) reports to Contractor General, Greg Christie.

Some public sector agencies and departments have been given until January 12, 2007, to show "justifiable cause" in writing, as to why the Contractor General should not refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a ruling.

Failure to comply with the lawful requisition of the Contractor General breaches Section 29 of the Contractor General's Act and could attract criminal sanctions.

Of the 191 public bodies which were asked to submit their second and third quarterly QCA reports, 22 have failed to deliver the second-quarter report, while 17 are still tardy in presenting their documents for the third quarter.

In a statement yesterday, the Office of the Contractor General said that it has completed a final list of delinquent public bodies with outstanding reports.

Warned for prosecution

The compilation of the list comes after the October 30 letter to the principal and accounting officers of some 191 public bodies that were warned of prosecution if they continued to violate the OCG's requisitions.

"In the absence of the OCG's receipt of a favourable response from these officers, the matters will be automatically referred to the DPP without any further notice given to them," the statement said.

"We have deemed it necessary to take this final due diligence step as we proceed in a responsible manner with our intended recommendation to the DPP for the reference prosecutions to be initiated," said Mr. Christie.

The names of delinquent public bodies will also be sent to the Cabinet Secretary, Financial Secretary and the Solicitor General.