Integrity Commission cites procurement breaches in airport tower construction projects

The Integrity Commission has raised several red flags in its investigation of the contract for the design and construction of air traffic control towers at Jamaica’s two main international airports, describing the contract award process as flawed.

According to the Integrity Commission, the contract issued to a Canadian company breached Jamaican Government procurement procedures.

The Integrity Commission's report, tabled on Tuesday, revealed that three entities submitted proposals to the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, JCAA, for consideration in 2006 to construct the air traffic control towers.

The proposals submitted by two of the companies were not considered by the JCAA, as they were deemed unsuitable.

Canadian firm INTELCAN, which had the highest proposal of 25 million Canadian dollars, was selected.

A contract was formalized in July 2010.

The JCAA disclosed that the award of the contract to INTELCAN emanated from an unsolicited proposal.

The Integrity Commission's Director of Investigations concluded however that discussions between INTELCAN and the JCAA commenced before the submission of its initial proposal and that it was therefore disingenuous for the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority to categorise the proposal as unsolicited.

 The Integrity Commission found that the procurement of INTELCAN's services was neither reviewed nor approved by a procurement committee, which is mandatory, based on the government's procurement rules.

It also found that INTELCAN was not registered with the National Contracts Commission prior to the signing of the contract, even though it was a requirement based on the scope and value of  the contract to construct the air traffic control towers.

Unethical

The Integrity Commission added that, based on documentation received from the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, members of  the organisation visited Havana, Cuba, following an invitation from INTELCAN which paid for the trip.

The visit was arranged so that the JCAA team could view the air traffic control tower constructed by INTELCAN in Havana.

The Commission's Director of  Investigation found INTELCAN's invitation and the acceptance by the JCAA officers to be unethical and unprincipled.

The Director is of  the opinion that the acceptance of  the hospitality from INTELCAN brings into question the integrity of  the process and could be viewed as an attempt by INTELCAN to favourably influence the JCAA's decision.