Market Me tell-all - Health ministry to publish every bill, contract today

All contracts and invoices made out to Market Me Consulting Limited by the Ministry of Health & Wellness will be published on Tuesday, Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan has told The Gleaner.

His revelation came amid controversy that unfolded last week over whether Health & Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton had a personal relationship with a director of the advertising and marketing company that may have influenced business dealings.

The firestorm was sparked by social-media posts which Tufton described as “vile, filthy and scandalous”. The minister, however, has not addressed whether he has any personal affiliation with a Market Me director.

Growing scrutiny over the engagement of Market Me has drawn the interest of the Integrity Commission, which may launch a probe into the ministry’s dealing with the company.

Referring to the full cache of contracts awarded to Market Me, Bryan told The Gleaner that “all of them will be published tomorrow (Tuesday)”. The documents will be uploaded to the ministry’s website, he revealed.

“Both contracts will be published along with all the payments that have been made and all the invoices,” he said.

Bryan appeared to have scratched plans to release a statement on Monday.

Market Me is the lead force behind Jamaica Moves, a three-year-old physical fitness campaign promoted by the Ministry of Health & Wellness to raise awareness about the impact of non-communicable diseases.

It has, however, been revealed that the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) had rejected the renewal of a multimillion-dollar contract to the company in May 2019, but that decision was reversed following a successful lobby by Bryan; Dr Simone Spence, acting director of health promotion and protection; and Trudy Brennan, acting director of procurement.

Unsolicited proposal

Market Me had initially made an unsolicited proposal to the ministry in 2016 for a contract valued at $15.9 million, which was approved.

The ministry wanted to extend the contract, but the procurement authority objected, noting that there was no evidence that value for money had been achieved from the first arrangement and that Market Me had not met the minimum required score in the bid document.

However, Bryan and his team pressed the commission to scrap its decision, arguing that going to the open market would have disrupted the Jamaica Moves programme, which was officially launched in April 2017. The PPC backtracked on its decision after the ministry reduced the contract period from two years to one.

That renewed contract was worth $38.9 million.

Market Me has also been awarded a number of contracts beyond the scope of Jamaica Moves, “totalling millions of dollars”, sources have said.