Eligibility period for NCC-registered contactors extended to February

The eligibility period for the award of Government of Jamaica contracts to all contractors registered with the National Contracts Commission (NCC) has been extended to February 28, 2011.
This adjustment comes as Cabinet has issued a policy directive stipulating that all NCC-registered contractors should be considered eligible up to the specified date even if the period of registration may have expired before that date.
Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, made the announcement at a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday (Nov. 24).
He pointed out that Cabinet was aware that the Contractor General has been reviewing the contract award process and has been investigating a number of irregularities in relation to the registration of contractors.
“This came out of discussion with the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) and the Cabinet to make sure there was no disruption in the award of contracts, while this well needed process is being undertaken,” he said.
The Minister noted that the extension of the eligibility period “would give the contractors sufficient time to make the requisite organisational procedural adjustments to comply with the NCC’s regulations.”
In an attempt to clamp down on internal corruption and the abuse of the registration process, the NCC and the Office of the Contractor General, are seeking to enforce the rules and regulations governing the registration of contractors, Minister Vaz explained.
“The rules and regulations included a requirement for contractors to demonstrate the employment of suitably certified full-time professional engineers in order to be registered as grade one contractors,” he said.
Cabinet’s policy directive further indicated that this moratorium should not be applicable to those whose registration has expired and whose applications were the subject of reports to the police for investigation for fraud; and that the monetary limits for each grade and category of the NCC-registered works contractors should be reviewed, having regard to the impact of inflation over the years.