Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

Paulwell

FORMER ENERGY Minister Phillip Paulwell says he sympathises with Kern Spencer - his former deputy - who is at the centre of allegations of irregularities related to the implementation of the Jamaica-Cuba light-bulb project. Paulwell admits the project might not have been shrouded in controversy if he had taken a more active role as minister.

"Of course, I do sympathise," Paulwell tells The Sunday Gleaner when asked whether he was sorry for Spencer, his former junior minister.

Spencer, 33, had selected persons close to him to implement the project, which involved the replacement of incandescent bulbs with four million energy-saving bulbs islandwide.

taking leave

Under political and public pressure for him to step aside, the former junior minister on Thursday announced he was taking leave as member of parliament for North East St Elizabeth. He is also stepping away from his role as an executive member of the People's National Party.

Even though Paulwell was in charge of the ministry, Spencer was placed in charge of the bulb-replacement project, Paulwell relates, to allow the young politician the opportunity to earn a feather in his cap.

"That is how I have dealt with all my previous state ministers, whether it was Colin Campbell or Aloun Assamba. I gave them assignments and they were allowed to carry it through. That is the reason why both of them had received Cabinet posts subsequent to being with me, and I thought that this was an excellent opportunity for Kern to prove himself," Paulwell says.

policies ignored

Probes by the contractor general and the auditor general have revealed that Government's procurement policies were ignored in implementing the light-bulb project.

The disclosures were first made by Energy Minister Clive Mullings less than a month into the Jamaica Labour Party's term of government. He told Parliament that the project had wracked up over $276 million in costs and that the company which was awarded the contract for project management was incorporated at around the same time the project started.

Although Paulwell tells The Sunday Gleaner "it's a project that was well thought through", Reginald Budhan, a former director in the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, says there were glaring errors. Budhan, then the director of project planning, says that no budget or implementation strategy was in place until deep into the project. The clouds of controversy would have been avoided if these were in place, he states.

"It was a major project which people naively believed could be funded through voluntary efforts. That, to me, was the grave error," Budhan tells The Sunday Gleaner.

He says a project document drafted in October 2006, which was never accepted, estimated the project cost at US$3.1 million (J$217 million).

Paulwell now admits that in retrospect, there were errors that needed correction.

"I would want to be satisfied that there is a clear project document ... before any such implementation," he tells The Sunday Gleaner when asked what would be his approach if he were to do it again