Mike Henry, Minister of Transport and Works.

Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry disclosed yesterday that the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), for which he is interim chairman, is spending $150,000 per day to secure the safety and security of its staff in the wake of the gunning down of its chairman, Douglas Chambers, two weeks ago.

The minister also revealed that a senior member of staff has had to go on leave after falling victim to post-traumatic stress, which has also affected his family. In addition, the company has been providing staff with the necessary counselling. Against this background, Henry has ordered the relocation of the administrative staff from the Twickenham Park, Spanish Town depot.

Contractor general criticised

At the same time, Henry has criticised the decision of the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) to probe the procurement practices of the JUTC following allegations of breaches in the media last week. Henry noted that the proposed probe was "against the background that internal investigations at the company have so far found nothing untoward in respect of the procurement practices there".

"Additionally, in respect of the main contracts which the OCG said it would be probing, it has been clear that some amount of misinformation and possibly misguided and fringe political motives, led to the charges in the media which prompted the pending OCG enquiry," stated Henry. "Hence, it is expected that the facts, once fully established, will clear the air, especially in respect of the stewardship of the JUTC board, under the leadership of the late Douglas Chambers."

Contract

Henry pointed out that a JUTC contract, which was awarded by the National Contracts Commission in favour of Protection and Security Limited, "went through all the relevant procedures for the award process".

He added that Cool Petroleum Limited, as confirmed by the company, was never awarded a contract by the JUTC as was stated by reports in the media. Instead, in purchasing the assets of Shell Company (W.I.) Limited in February 2006, Cool Petroleum Limited acquired a contract which Shell had held with the JUTC from 1999, and which was renewed in 2004.

Fuel supply-deal probe

Stated Henry: "Likewise, in sharp contrast to an assertion in the Herald newspaper last Sunday, that the fuel supply deal with the JUTC involved payment at 28 per cent higher than the market rate, which no doubt helped to trigger the OCG probe, both the records of the JUTC and Cool Petroleum have confirmed that the fuel supplier is actually operating on a profit margin of less than half of one per cent!"

The transport minister also sought to correct the media report that Douglas Chambers was the majority shareholder in Simber Production Limited, to which the late JUTC chairman was connected.

Henry said the JUTC board, having conducted a yet- incomplete investigation of the "clearly politically motivated assertions" against the company and its late chairman, has found no truth to the apparently red-herring approach being taken to discredit his character.

Other initiatives announced by the transport minister include: