Any reply or subsequent reference to this

communication should be addressed to the OFFICE OF THE CONTRACTOR-

Contractor-General and the following
reference quoted:- GENERAL
PIOJ Building
No. : 16 Oxford Road
TELEPHONE No.:876-929-8560/6466 P.O. BOX 540
FAX No. : 876-929-2476
E-mail: [email protected] KIN
GSTON 5

JAMAICA, W.I

MEDIA RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE CONTRACTOR GENERAL LAUNCHES MAJOR INVESTIGATION INTO

CONTRACT AWARD IRREGULARITIES AT THE ST. CATHERINE PARISH COUNCIL

Kingston, Jamaica; August 16, 2010 – The Office of the Contractor General (OCG) has today
launched a major Investigation into allegations of impropriety and irregularity in the award of
certain Government contracts by the St. Catherine Parish Council to Strathairn Construction
Company Limited.

The allegations, some of which have already been corroborated by an OCG Preliminary Enquiry,
have implicated at least one Member of Parliament and one Senior Public Official, and have raised
several questions regarding possible breaches of the Government’s Procurement Procedures, the
Contractor General Act, the Financial Administration and Audit Act and the Corruption
Prevention Act, amongst other laws.

Formal notice of the OCG’s commencement of its Investigation was given under cover of letter of
even date to the relevant Public Officials. Copies of the letter were also directed by the Contractor
General to the Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, under whose Office the Local
Government Portfolio falls, as well as the Hon. Robert Montague, the Minister of State in the
Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Local Government.

In the interest of public transparency, the full text of the Contractor General’s letter is reproduced,
verbatim, hereunder.

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“August 16, 2010

Ms. Onika Miller

Permanent Secretary
Office of the Prime Minister
1 Devon Road
Kingston 10

Major Richard Reese

Director General
Local Government Department
Office of the Prime Minister
1 Devon Road
Kingston 10

Mr. Christopher Powell

Secretary Manager
St. Catherine Parish Council
Parade Square
Spanish town
St. Catherine

Dear Madame and Sirs:

Re: Notice of Commencement of Investigation – Concerning Allegations of

Impropriety and/or Irregularity in the Award of Certain Contracts to
Strathairn Construction Company Limited by the St. Catherine Parish Council

Pursuant to the powers which are vested in me, by the Contractor General Act, I hereby
formally write to notify you that the Office of the Contractor General (OCG), acting on
behalf of the Contractor General, has commenced a formal Special Statutory
Investigation into the allegations of impropriety and/or irregularity in the award of
certain contracts, by the St. Catherine Parish Council, to Strathairn Construction
Company Limited.

The OCG’s decision to commence the referenced Special Investigation has been
prompted by certain considerations which include, inter alia, the following:

1. The fact that the OCG is in receipt of a sworn written Statement, which was tape-
recorded by the OCG and which was given under the pain of criminal prosecution
pursuant to Section 29 (a) of the Contractor General Act, which alleges that the
award of certain works contracts which were issued by the St. Catherine Parish
Council for performance in the St. Catherine South Western Constituency, were
influenced by a Mr. Clifford Everald Errol Warmington, the Member of Parliament
for the St. Catherine South Western Constituency, and were awarded to

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 Strathairn Construction Company Limited – a company in which Mr. Everald
Warmington was a Director up to September 1, 2007.

In the sworn Statement which was given to the OCG in December 2008 and
formally executed in writing in March 2009, it was also alleged that, as at the
date of the Statement, Strathairn Construction Company Limited was the
beneficiary of the majority of the contracts which had been awarded in the St.
Catherine South Western Constituency, along with two (2) or three (3) other
companies.

It was further alleged that although Mr. Everald Warmington had said that he had
“resigned” from the company, this was not true and, in fact, he, Mr. Everald
Warmington, was, as at the date of the Statement, still actively in control of the
company and, as such, Strathairn Construction Company Limited is “Mr.
Warmington’s company.” The formal Statement, which was given to the OCG,
also alleged that Mr. Everald Warmington was, at the time, in possession and
control of the cheque book for Strathairn Construction Company Limited.

The sworn Statement, which was provided to the OCG, also alleged that Mr.
Everald Warmington, subsequent to resigning from his post as a Director in
Strathairn Construction Company Limited, added the names of his sister and
brother to the particulars of the company’s documents.

Further, the sworn statement, which was provided to the OCG, also implicated at
least one senior Public Officer/Official of the St. Catherine Parish Council as
having received ‘kickbacks’ for his role in the improper and/or irregular award of
contracts to the said company.

It was further alleged that Strathairn Construction Company Limited was

operating from the same address as that of Mr. Warmington’s Member of
Parliament Constituency Office, which it was alleged was located at “40 East
Street, Old Harbour, St. Catherine”.

The referenced allegations were sufficient to trigger, in February 2009, an

ongoing OCG Preliminary Enquiry into the said allegations.

2. The Preliminary Enquiry, which was conducted by the OCG, into the above-
referenced allegations has so far either corroborated the veracity of some of the
said allegations or has raised serious questions regarding the said allegations.
They are as follows:

(a) By way of a letter which was dated May 31, 2006, the Parliament of
Jamaica, disclosed particulars of eight (8) Exemption Motions, regarding
certain Parliamentarians, to the Contractor General. In the referenced letter, it
was disclosed that a Motion for Exemption was approved in favour of Mr.
Clifford Everald Warmington, MP on April 23, 2003. The disclosure in respect

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of Mr. Warmington confirmed that Mr. Warmington is the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Strathairn Construction Company Ltd., a General
Construction, Management Engineering and Quantity Surveying Company,
which from time to time enters into contracts with the GOJ or its agents.

(b) The Exemption Motion did not disclose any further details as to the Public
Body/Bodies which had engaged or which would be engaging the services of
Strathairn Construction Company Ltd., nor did it disclose the details and/or
value of any past, current and/or prospective contracts which had been or
which were to be awarded to the company.

(c) Checks by the OCG of the official documents which are available at the
Registrar of Companies have confirmed that a Mr. Clifford Warmington did in
fact cease to hold office as a Director in the company, Strathairn Construction
Company Limited, as at September 1, 2007.

(d) Further OCG checks with the Registrar of Companies have revealed that on
September 1, 2007, the names of three (3) persons, whose surnames in two
(2) instances and maiden name in the other, was that of ‘Warmington’, were
added to the company’s registration documents, in the capacity of Directors of
Strathairn Construction Company Limited.

However, further checks of the records of Strathairn Construction Company

Limited, at the Registrar of Companies, revealed that the said three (3)
persons, who are named ‘Warmington’, ceased to be Directors of Strathairn
Construction Company Limited as at October 31, 2008.

Of critical note, however, is that a person who was alleged in the above-
referenced sworn Statement to be a Councilor of the “Old Harbour Bay
Division” was identified by the OCG as having been appointed as a Director of
Strathairn Construction Company Limited as at March 26, 2003. Recent checks
by the OCG have indicated that, as at February 2009, when the records were
“last updated”, the referenced person was still listed as a Director of the
company.

(e) An examination of the Quarterly Contract Award (QCA) Reports that were
filed by the St. Catherine Parish Council with the OCG, in respect of the eight
(8) quarters of the period January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2009, has revealed
that the St. Catherine Parish Council, during the referenced period, awarded a
grand total of 39 QCA based contracts, having an aggregated value of $135.29
Million Of the referenced amount, as many as 18 contracts, totalling approx.
$65.36 Million in value, were awarded by the Council to Strathairn
Construction Company Limited alone.

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(f) The OCG’s examination of the St. Catherine Parish Council’s QCA Reports
for the 2008 and 2009 calendar years, has further revealed that during the 3 rd
Quarter of 2008 (July to September 2008), only ten (10) contracts in total were
awarded by the St. Catherine Parish Council. Of critical note, however, is that
all ten (10) contracts, totaling $20.61 Million in aggregated value, were
awarded to Strathairn Construction Company Limited. Further, all ten (10)
contracts were awarded by the St. Catherine Parish Council to Strathairn
Construction Company Limited on a single day, August 28, 2008.

(g) Further, the OCG’s Preliminary Enquiry has revealed that of the ten (10)
contracts which were awarded by the St. Catherine Parish Council on August
28, 2008, as many as eight (8) of those contracts were for the execution of
works in Sydenham, St. Catherine.

The locations, descriptions and values of the said works, as reported by the St.
Catherine Parish Council, would suggest that the eight (8) contracts which
were awarded to Strathairn Construction Company Limited were ‘splintered’.
This would have enabled the said contracts, at a minimum, to escape the
scrutiny and oversight of the National Contracts Commission (NCC) which,
under the Government’s then Procurement Rules, and having regard to the
total value of the contracts, would have had to endorse the said contracts
prior to their award.

(h) Additionally, a review of the QCA Reports for the St. Catherine Parish
Council for the 3rd Quarter of 2009 has revealed that the St. Catherine Parish
Council awarded eight (8) contracts during the referenced three (3) month
period with an aggregated value of $61.78 Million. Of the eight (8) reported
contracts, as many as five (5) were reportedly awarded to Strathairn
Construction Company Limited for the purposes of “Road Rehabilitation”. The
five (5) contracts, which had an approximate aggregated value of $39.19
Million, were all reportedly awarded to Strathairn Construction Company
Limited on a single day, July 28, 2009.

The above-referenced QCA Reports were submitted to the OCG by the

Accountable Officers of the St. Catherine Parish Council in furtherance of the
OCG’s lawful Statutory Requisitions that are issued pursuant to Section 4 (2)
(a) and 4 (3) of the Contractor General Act. The Requisitions are submitted
under the pain of criminal prosecution under Section 29 (a) of the Contractor
General Act which makes it a criminal offence, inter alia, for any person to
willfully make a false statement to mislead a Contractor General.
The particulars of all QCA Reports that are submitted to the OCG, by the
country’s more than 190 Procuring Public Bodies, are matters of public record.
All QCA Reports, inclusive of the referenced QCA Reports which were
submitted to the OCG by the St. Catherine Parish Council, are available for
public examination on the OCG’s official website at www.ocg.gov.jm.

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 (i) It is also important to note that the OCG, during the course of its
Preliminary Enquiry, was advised, in writing, on May 1, 2009, by the Secretary
Manager of the St. Catherine Parish Council, Mr. Christopher Powell, that
“Since the advent of the Constituency Development Fund, the Council has not
written approval letters to any contract winner; what we have done is call in
the respective winners. This approach we now realize was erroneous and we
will now in going forward write to all successful bidders.”

3. The fact that the OCG, as recently as August 10, 2010, received a further verbal
complaint which alleged the involvement of Senior Public Officials, at the St.
Catherine Parish Council, in the facilitation of the irregular and/or improper award
of contracts to Strathairn Construction Company Limited.

I am of the considered view that the foregoing considerations are singularly and
collectively grave in their import and have raised several public interest issues which
would warrant the institution of a formal OCG Statutory Investigation into the
allegations which have been made in this matter.

Accordingly, the OCG’s Special Investigation herein will enquire into the following
issues, among others:

1. The particulars of the contract award activities of the St. Catherine Parish Council
and whether the circumstances which surrounded the award of contracts, by the
Council, to Strathairn Construction Company Limited complied, inter alia, with
the provisions and/or requirements of:

a. The Contractor General Act, 1983, and, in particular, whether the award of
the contracts were impartial, based upon merit and were premised upon
circumstances which did not involve impropriety and/or irregularity;

b. The applicable Government Procurement Procedures;

c. The Financial Administration and Audit Act; and

d. The Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act.

2. A review of the procedures and processes which led to the recommendations for
the award of the referenced contracts to Strathairn Construction Company
Limited;

3. A determination of the extent of the ownership, operations and/or management

involvement, if any, of Mr. Everald Warmington, MP, in Strathairn Construction
Company Limited;

4. A determination of the extent of the involvement, if any, of Mr. Everald

Warmington, MP, in the facilitation, recommendation and/or award of any
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 Government of Jamaica contract which has been awarded to Strathairn
Construction Company Limited;

5. The extent, if any, of the involvement of officers/officials of the St. Catherine

Parish Council in informing and/or influencing the recommendation for the award
of contracts to Strathairn Construction Company Limited;

6. A determination as to whether there is any evidence that Section 14 of the

Corruption Prevention Act has been contravened;

7. A determination as to whether there is any evidence that Section 40 (2) (c) of the
Constitution of Jamaica has been contravened by Mr. Everald Warmington.

Section 40 (2) (c) of the Constitution imposes an important disclosure

qualification whenever a person who seeks to be a elected to the House of
Representatives or appointed to the Senate is also a party to a Government
contract or is a partner in a firm or a director or manager of a company which, to
his knowledge, is a party to a Government contract. In substance, the Section
provides that no such person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the
House if he has not previously disclosed the nature of such contract and his
interest or the interest of such firm or company therein, by publishing a notice
in the Gazette within one month before the day of the election.

The certified QCA Reports, which were submitted to the OCG by the St. Catherine
Parish Council for the 2nd and 3rd Quarters of 2007, have disclosed that the
following contracts were awarded to Strathairn Construction Company Limited
during the referenced periods: April 10, 2007, contract in the sum of $3.73
Million; July 25, 2007, contract in the sum of $1.52 Million. It is not known when
either contract was completed. The 2007 General Elections were held on
September 3, 2007. Mr. Warmington was listed as a Director of Strathairn
Construction Company Limited up to and including August 30, 2007.

Pursuant to Sections 15 (1) and 16 of the Contractor General Act, a Contractor General
is empowered, at his own discretion, to conduct an investigation into any or all of the
following matters:

(a) the registration of contractors;

(b) the tender procedures relating to contracts awarded by public bodies;
(c) the award of any government contract;
(d) the implementation of the terms of any government contract;
(e) the circumstances of the grant, issue, use, suspension or revocation of any
prescribed licence;
(f) the practice and procedures relating to the grant, issue, suspension or revocation
of prescribed licences.

You should also be guided by the provisions which are embodied in Sections 4, 16, 17,

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18, 20, 21, 28 and 29 of the Act.
The OCG’s Investigation Team in this matter will be headed by Ms. Latoya Harris, the
OCG Senior Special Investigator, who will be directly responsible to me for the conduct
of the Investigation.

Ms. Harris will communicate in due course with certain officers and officials of the St.
Catherine Parish Council, as well as other persons of interest, inclusive of Mr. Everald
Warmington, MP, to advise them of the Investigation process and the Statutory
Requisitions which the OCG will be making of them in pursuit of the conduct of its
Special Investigation.

Given the gravity of the allegations which have been made in this matter and, in
particular, the implications of same as regards Member of Parliament Mr. Everald
Warmington, I am, by way of copy of this letter, notifying him of the referenced
allegations and the OCG’s Investigation therein.

Please accept my gratitude for your anticipated cooperation and assistance in this very
important matter.

Very respectfully yours,

Greg Christie (Signed)

_________________________
Greg Christie
Contractor General

Copy: The Hon. Bruce Golding, MP, Prime Minister of Jamaica

The Hon. Robert Montague, MP, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime
Minister with responsibility for Local Government
Mr. Everald Warmington, Member of Parliament for St. Catherine South Western
Constituency
Ms. Latoya Harris, Senior Special Investigator, OCG”

-END-

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Contact: The Communications Department, Office of the Contractor General of Jamaica
C/o Craig Beresford, Senior Director of Monitoring Operations, Corporate Communications and Special Projects
E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 876-929-8560; Direct: 876-926-0034; Mobile: 876-564-1806