Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness is being looked at after an anti-corruption agency released a long report that suggests he might have a conflict of interest with contracts given to a construction company, some of which were not reported.
In a report that came out Wednesday, the island’s Integrity Commission said that it had sent the case to Jamaica’s director of corruption prosecution, who will look over the findings. The report was also given to the speaker of Jamaica’s House of Representatives, who is a member of Holness’ Jamaica Labor Party.
Holness said in a statement that the incident happened almost 20 years ago and that he had never tried to influence how contracts were given out. I strongly disagree with what the Integrity Commission said about having a conflict of interest just because you know someone.
He also said that it has been common for members of Parliament to suggest local contractors for work in their districts for a long time. He added that he had given the commission’s report to his lawyers.
When Holness was minister of education, from 2007 to 2009, the commission looked into 10 contracts that were given to a construction company. The law says that only five of those were reported to the Office of the Contractor General. This is what the report says.
The contracts, which added up to almost $142,000, were for work like fixing a roof or fixing up a teachers’ cottage.
The commission found that the prime minister has known two Westcon Construction Limited directors and shareholders for more than 20 years. Holness told the report that he knows one of them well because he used to work for him in his constituency and for his own business. The other one he knows less well and hired to do land surveying work.
No one from the building company could be reached right away for comment.
In May 2016, a local TV news show raised questions about the contracts and Holness’s relationship with the people in charge of the construction company. This led to the start of the investigation.
It wasn’t clear if Jamaica’s director of corruption prosecution has a deadline to respond to the commission’s findings or if lawyers for Holness could appeal her answer.
When the commission was asked for comment, they did not answer right away.
