Jamaica watchdog official victim of failed hit

(CNS): A member of staff in the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) in Jamaica, which performs a similar role to Cayman's Office of the Auditor General, was allegedly the target of a failed attempt at an execution by a contractor. According to a release from Greg Christie’s office, one of his team was in real danger when gunmen were reportedly recruited to take his life while visiting a particular location on Wednesday morning in Jamaica. Christie has reported the matter to the police and noted that it comes in the wake of threats made by contractors who are attempting to discredit the OCG and its legally mandated work.

The staff member whose life was under threat is one of the officials assigned to the job of interviewing contractors whose applications for re-registration as Government Works Contractors have been withdrawn from the National Contracts Commission (NCC) Works Contractor Application Process because of fraudulent representations that the OCG has uncovered in the applications.

The OCG staffer at whom the alleged execution attempt was directed is the same person who was threatened at a meeting on 28 July organized by the Jamaica Association of Consultants and Contractors (JAC).

“It should now be crystal clear to all concerned that these reckless statements, about the OCG, are endangering the lives of the hard-working members of the OCG’s  staff who are doing nothing more than the jobs that they have taken a solemn oath to do,” said Christie. “These reckless statements must stop before someone’s life is snuffed out.”

The JAC, whose Chairman is Percival LaTouche, had accused the OCG of delays in the NCC’s Government contractor re-registration process but recently, after meeting with the contractor general, recanted its claims and has since directed them to the NCC.

“The OCG must, however, again state, for the record, that where works contractors submit re-registration applications to the NCC which contain misleading, false or fraudulent representations, the NCC’s prescribed and published criteria are clear that the contractors cannot be re-registered,” Christie’s office added.