China bauxite deal quarrel drags on

"The OCG has no legislative basis on which to investigate the sale," the AG's office declared as it weighed into the contentious matter this week in a letter over the signature of government attorney, Stacy Ann Soltau Robinson addressed to the ministry's permanent secretary, Hilary Alexander.

The contemplated sale of shares, the letter said, "is not a government contract as defined under the contractor General's Act."

But the salvos from the Government have not deterred the feisty contractor general, Greg Christie, and his team from launching an investigation into the matter, following the mining and energy department's challenge to the OCG's jurisdiction in government divestments.

Scandalous

In a fiery letter addressed to Prime Minister Bruce Golding, Christie described the matter as "nothing short of scandalous" and a "retrograde step for the administration".

"The fact that the administration has now boldly challenged the jurisdiction of the OCG over asset divestment matters, despite, inter alia, its previous record of requesting the OCG to formally investigate similar issues, has called into question the credibility and sincerity of its pronouncements regarding its commitment to fight corruption, to strengthen the country's anti-corruption and good governance institutional structures, and to ensure transparency, probity, competition, accountability and value for money in public contracting," Christie said.

Alexander had sought the opinion of the AG's department on the matter, after Christie not only criticised the deal, but had also accused the government bureaucrats in that ministry of "obfuscating" the real issues in their response to his expressed concerns.

The Chinese firm had all but put pen to paper to close the deal, which must get the blessing of Alcoa Minerals, Jamaica's partner in Jamalco, when Christie stepped in, describing the ministry's action as questionable, while maintaining that the deal must go to a competitive tender process.

Responding to the charges, the ministry pointed to, among other things, operating losses at Clarendon Alumina Production Company, which its said, created a debt of more than US$400 million, an obligation that the Government has maintained will not be accommodated in the current economic programme with the International Monetary Fund. The MEM also questioned Christie's authority to query the matter.

With the OCG turning up the heat on the matter, Alexander sought the opinion of the AG's office, headed by Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, to determine if Port Reliant Limited, an agent for the Chinese firm, acted appropriately in their refusal to divulge information to the OCG, or whether the ministry can proceed with the controversial deal.

The AG office's responded to the ministry's request on how best to get Port Reliant Limited to comply fully with the OCG's request for certain information.

The AG's May 31 letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Financial Gleaner, argued that with the OCG lacking the "legislative basis" on which to investigate the contemplated transaction, Port Reliant Limited was correct in rebuffing the contractor general's May 5 request for a disclosure of the relevant information concerning the deal.

The opinion from the Govern-ment's top lawyer, however, noted that, "Despite the fact that there is no legal bases on which the GOJ could compel Port Reliant Limited to provide the relevant information, it is open to the GOJ to request that Port Reliant provide the relevant information in the spirit of cooperation."

Classifying the deal as unsolicited, and referring to section 4 of the Contractor General's Act, the AG's office effectively backed the assertions of the mining ministry.

"Based on our instructions and in light of the apparent GOJ policy as it relates to divestments, in the absence of any prohibition on the part of the GOJ to consider an unsolicited offer and a mandate that assets of this nature are to be put to tender, there is nothing to suggest that the ministry has proceeded in a manner inconsistent with law and practice," the letter stated.

The AG's office also referred to a request made by the OCG in its 2008 Annual Report to Parliament, in which the legislature was urged to revise Section 2 of the Contractor General's Act, arguing that the request suggested that the OCG recognised the ambiguity of the act on the issue.

The contractor general has since proposed the introduction of an ' Anti Corruption Cause' to stem corruption in the award of Government Contracts.