Ex-St Ann council official, contractor referred for corruption probe

Former senior St Ann Municipal Corporation official Xavier Munroe and contractor Rahim Walker have been referred to the Integrity Commission’s Director of Corruption Prosecution Keisha Prince-Kameka.

The referral surrounds allegations of fraud linked to a $47-million COVID-19 contract that was “irregular” and “lacked integrity”.

Integrity Commission Director of Investigations Kevon Stephenson has also referred Munroe and Walker, head of Rahim’s Cleaning and Trucking Limited, to the director of corruption prosecutions for her to consider whether both men committed perjury.

A report on the probe done by the anti-corruption agency was tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

It examined the contract that was awarded to Rahim’s Cleaning and Trucking Limited in March 2020 for cleaning and sanitising works at eight locations in Ocho Rios.

At the time, Munroe was the deputy chief engineer. He is now based at the Hanover Municipal Corporation.

The sites where sanitisation was done were the Urban Development Corporation’s Island Village complex, Main Street in Ocho Rios, Turtle River Park, Ocean Village, Ocho Rios Market, Fisherman Village, Ocho Rios Pier, and White River.

“There is evidence to suggest that value for money was not attained,” said Stephenson, who also found that the circumstances that led to selection and award of the contract to Rahim’s Cleaning breached procurement rules.

Eyebrows were raised at a parliamentary committee in June 2020 when it was revealed that it cost more than $9 million to sanitise and clean handrails, gates, doors, gate handles, and door handles at the Ocho Rios Pier.

At the Island Village complex, cleaning involved sanitisation of handrails, gates and their handles, doors and their handles, guard rails and seating, amounting to $7.5 million.

The committee was told that a letter to verify the competency of Rahim’s Cleaning and Trucking Limited came from Tracy Fakourie, regional operations manager of North Eastern Parks and Markets Waste Management Limited.

The agreement between the St Ann Municipal Corporation and the contracting firm was signed on March 26, 2020. However, the letter of recommendation from Fakourie was dated May 20, 2020, almost two months after the contract was signed.

The project was funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund.

Some of Stephenson’s key conclusions:

1. Circumstances that led to selection and award of contract to Rahim’s Cleaning breached Section 25 (2) of the Public Procurement Act. Conclusion based on the fact that the utilisation of the single-source procurement methodology, given the contract value, required prior approval from the head of entity and no such endorsement was made by the chief executive officer at the St Ann Municipal Corporation at the time of the contract award.

2. The inability on the part of the St Ann Municipal Corporation and the contractor to clearly identify the manner in which the measurements and units were determined impaired the determination of value for money

3. Procurement was irregular and lacked accountability and integrity. There was an absence of formal procurement documentation and record keeping by the municipal corporation. There was also an absence of records documenting the officers of the corporation who were involved in the process.

4. Apparent discrepancy between statements made by Rahim Walker and Xavier Munroe in relation to the duration of the implementation of the contract. Walker said the project was implemented over two and a half weeks, but Munroe said over one week.

The commission said there is prima facie evidence to suggest that the project was implemented on the weekend subsequent to the signing of the contract on March 26, 2020.

5. Representations by Rahim Walker during the investigations were, in some instances, misleading.