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As debate continues over the findings of the Integrity Commission report regarding the contracts awarded to consulting firm Market Me by the Ministry of Health, political commentator Lloyd B. Smith says the House of Representatives must consider imposing sanctions against Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton.
Speaking on Radio Jamaica's weekly news review programme That's a Rap, on Sunday, Mr. Smith said the country awaits a decision of the Parliament on the matter.
"The IC report is tabled and hopefully, there will be a debate and that some kind of action will be tabled," said the commentator, who argued that since Jamaica follows the British Westminster model of government, "we should also follow those conventions because in that context, the minister in question would have had to step aside or resign".
On Wednesday, Executive Director of Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP), Jeanette Calder, said consideration should be given to removing Dr. Tufton as Health Minister.
Dr. Tufton has dismissed calls for him to be stripped of his portfolio responsibilities in light of the concerns raised in the Integrity Commission report.
Meanwhile, development economist Dr. Chris Stokes, who also spoke on That's a Rap, argued that it's highly unlikely that the House of Representatives will impose any sanctions on Dr. Tufton due to the current political climate.
Pointing to the UK, he suggested that "the decency of resigning has been weaponised so much that everything becomes a resignable offence".
"But in our case, we're seeing the broad outlines of how the battlefield is going to be set up and it's going to end in a draw. And the broad outlines are that Market Me has come out and said they haven't done anything wrong. Minister Tufton has come out and said in essense that he's vindicated. And therefore, it goes to Parliament and then it's going to become, we're going right back into JLP, PNP and bad mind and nothing happened," he complained.
The Integrity Commission report revealed that government contracts worth nearly $80 million were awarded to the consulting firm between January 2016 and December 2020 for the Jamaica Moves campaign.
The IC report concluded that the use of direct contracting breached the Ministry of Finance's guidelines, which limit this method to contracts valued below $1.5 million.
While the IC investigation found no direct evidence that the Health Minister participated in the award of contracts, it concluded that his introduction of Market Me and friendship with its co-managing director, Lyndsey McDonnough, created a perceived conflict of interest.
It has recommended that the findings related to Dr. Tufton's conflict of interest should be referred to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and that the Permanent Secretary should determine whether the government suffered any financial loss.
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