Christie claims Tufton, Hill committed perjury
Published:Wednesday | September 15, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter
A CABINET minister, a permanent secretary and a government consultant have been accused by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) of breaching the perjury law.
This was revealed in the OCG's special report of investigation into multimillion-dollar consultancy contracts to businessman Aubyn Hill. The findings of the OCG are, among other things, that the contracts were awarded in an unlawful, irregular and improper manner.
The 148-page document from the OCG's probe charged that Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton and his Permanent Secretary Donovan Stanberry as well as Aubyn Hill contravened the Perjury Act.
"... The OCG has concluded that Mr Donovan Stanberry, on November 19, 2009, Dr Christopher Tufton on February 24, 2010 and Mr Aubyn Hill on March 16, 2010 provided the OCG with statements that were manifestly and materially false in that they had unequivocally asserted in the said statements, which were sworn before a justice of the peace to be true, accurate and complete, that 'employment contracts' were awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) to Mr Aubyn Hill," Christie declared.
The OCG said documentary evidence and subsequent sworn statements provided to the OCG by Stanberry and Tufton had contradicted the initial responses submitted by the three men.
In a swift response, the agriculture ministry yesterday hit back saying it "completely and unequivocally repudiates this suggestion".
The ministry pointed out that when the OCG sought clarification on what appeared to be a contradiction, Stanberry explained that he "made a genuine mistake in designating the contracts 'employment contracts'.
"It is instructive that the contractor general gave no credence to the admission of the mistake and the explanation given. The ministry maintains that it was a genuine mistake and not intended to deceive the contractor general."
Hill contracts
Two contracts were awarded to Hill. In the first, signed on August 18, 2008 Hill was required to conclude negotiations with Infinity Bio-Energy Limited.
Hill was also awarded a consultancy contract dated March 30, 2009 to lead the Sugar Negotiating Team that was mandated to assess, evaluate and recommend suitable investors to the Cabinet.
In terms of the first contract, Contractor General Greg Christie charged that the approval of the National Contracts Commission (NCC) was not sought and or granted. The August 18 contract was awarded pursuant to a cabinet decision on June 30, 2008.
The two contracts were also awarded to Hill on the basis of the sole source/direct contracting procurement methodology. Christie argued that this was done unlawfully as it breached the Government Procurement Procedures Hand-book which states that sole source contracts greater than $1 million must receive approval from the NCC. Both contracts exceeded $5 million.
Hill's company, Corporate Strategies Limited, was paid $35.2 million for the period July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2009 for both consultancy contracts.
On Monday, before he had read the report in detail, Hill refuted claims that there was a conflict of interest.
"The contractor general has his job to do and that is respected and of course I have my job to do," Hill told The Gleaner in a preliminary response.
"I don't think I will agree with him (that there was a conflict of interest) and I tell you why; for conflict of interest to occur in my mind I would have had to be employed to the sugar company (SCJ Holdings) and doing something contrary to the objectives and good benefit of SCJ Holdings."