Business
Jamaica: National Works Agency unders investigation
A Jamaican anti-corruption agency opened a probe Tuesday into a troubled government office that is already undergoing an independent review of its alleged mismanagement of a stalled US$400 million road program.
Contractor General Greg Christie’s staff is investigating the National Works Agency for its purchase of US$720,000 worth of new office furniture using contract funds from the renovation of a narrow strip of shore road leading to Kingston’s international airport.
The shoreline work is being done by a Chinese company, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd., under a US$65.3 million contract awarded by the National Works Agency. The project began in September 2010.
Investigators with the contractor general’s office, which examines public sector contracts to see if they are free of corruption, found stacks of office furniture in five 40-foot (12-meter) containers on the works agency’s property during an unannounced visit.
A statement issued by Christie’s office said investigators found a document showing the agency’s CEO authorized about US$720,000 to be charged under the “institutional strengthening” component of the shoreline project’s contract.
