Jamaican Politition Phillip Paulwell Says OCG Claims Are Inappropriate

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, said Tuesday that the Contractor General’s determination that he had compromised the bidding process for the 360-megawatt of generating capacity was “baseless and inappropriate”. In a written response tabled in the House of Representatives, Paulwell said that it was Cabinet which directed the OUR to evaluate, along with the three entities shortlisted, the unsolicited proposal received from Energy World International in relation to the 360 MW of generating capacity.


The OUR, by way of letter dated April 23, 2013, addressed to the Chairman of the National Contracts Commission (NCC) — which is the competent authority under the Contractor General Act, to approve and oversee the award of Government contracts- sought approval to include EWI in the process,” he said. “The NCC in a letter to the Cabinet, dated May 9, 2013, indicated it had no objection to the inclusion of EWI, provided certain conditions were met,” he added. Paulwell said that, on that basis, it seems inappropriate and baseless for the OCG to accuse him of improper intervention and to be questioning the inclusion of EWI, light of this NCC approval. The OCG, in a report tabled in the House of Representatives last week Tuesday, said that the minister's intervention and acceptance of the bid from EWI compromised the integrity of the process.