Morgan dismisses claims local contractors not engaged in SPARK programme

 

Works Minister Robert Morgan has dismissed claims that the government has not engaged local contractors on the multi-billion dollar SPARK road improvement programme. 

 

Criticisms have been levelled at the administration that only Chinese are employed under the programme. 

 

Mr. Morgan, in rubbishing the claim, said the government has engaged 23 local contractors on the SPARK programme. 

 

"We are engaging subcontractors in St. Catherine South Eastern, St. Catherine Southern, St. Catherine North Eastern, Clarendon Northern, Portland Western, Trelawny, St. James. There is no truth to the accusation that this government does not care about local subcontractors. The government spent $8.7 billion last year on recurrent expenditure. All of that $8.7 billion of recurrent expenditure went to local contractors. 

 

"Over the last 18 months, based on the data coming out of the procurement unit of the National Works Agency, the government of Jamaica has spent over $12 billion of recurrent expenditure. Every single dollar of that $12 billion has gone to local contractors," explained the minister, who was making his contribution to the sectoral debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

 

The Works Minister also described as "mischievous" accusations of a massive debt owed to local contractors. 

 

Mr. Morgan said much of the money has been paid over. 

 

"At any given time, there is going to be money owed to a contractor. If a contractor signs a contract for six months, they can send in bills over time and they get paid in increments. But even when the contractor is finished the work, there is still a thing called retention, which is a part of the warranty process where that retention is held by the entity until the work is fully validated. In our case at the National Works Agency, of the $12 billion that we have allocated over the last 18 months, over $11 billion have been paid out to local contractors," he said. 

 

He added that no money will be paid over until the work is deemed complete and satisfactory.

 

"In other cases, we have seen, Madam Speaker, where work has not been validated because work was either not complete or done properly. And there are persons will come here and advocate for us to pay bills for work not done properly. Madam Speaker, those days of paying for poor work are over. Taxpayers' dollars must be protected," Minister Morgan asserted.