Member of Parliament for West St. Mary, the PNP’s Jolyan Silvera, is at the center of a controversy following a revelation today that he submitted to the Constituency Development Fund, CDF, the name of a consulting company for the award of a 1-point-5 million dollar contract, when the company did not exist.
MP for South West St. Catherine, the JLP’s Everald Warmington is demanding that the matter be investigated.
But, Mr. Silvera is insisting that he did not act improperly.
Director of the CDF, Moveta Monroe, reported to the committee today that following the MP’s recommendation, the consultancy company was contracted on July 11, which was 12 days before the company actually came into being.
The CDF Director commented that “it’s a moral issue. it is a matter of integrity.”
Committee member and North West St. Elizabeth MP, JC Hutchinson, said something is amiss.
Acting Chairman of the Committee, the PNP’s Mikael Phillips, told Nationwide News that the committee is considering the legal implications as it’s unusual for an MP to submit a company to the CDF for a contract award and for the contract to be signed off on when the company did not exist.
Committee member and South West St. Catherine MP, Everald Warmington, is calling for an investigation into Mr. Silvera and the consultancy company in question.
Mr. Warmington is adamant that documents supplied to the CDF today show the company was not in existence when the contract was originally signed.
But Mr. Silvera says there’s no moral or legal issue.
He says a new contract was prepared after it was pointed out to him by the CDF Director that there was concern that the original contract was signed off on before the consultancy company was formed.
Not satisfied, Mr. Warmington says the original act of Mr. Silvera signing off on a contract for a company that was not in existence, should not simply be bypassed.
Mr. Silvera is defending his integrity.
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