The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC) has rejected as false claims made by Opposition Leader and the Member of Parliament for South St Andrew, Mark Golding, that the ministry had been tardy in moving to address infrastructural challenges at the Torrington Park Housing Scheme where a staircase collapsed on Sunday.

One person was injured in the incident and scores of others were left without access to their dwelling.

“The ministry rejects the allegation of tardiness and urges the Member of Parliament to ensure that his statements pertaining to the issue align with the facts and are not misleading,” the MEGJC said.

The ministry said the facts are that it had made several efforts to have the required corrective work commence. The ministry disclosed that the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) had initially advised the ministry that it would be appropriate to obtain the services of a structural engineer to examine the integrity of the entire structure given that it is aged and has several related challenges.

According to the ministry, it initiated a process to put the project to tender. However, no bid was submitted which met the required criteria.

“Security concerns regarding the location where the rehabilitative work is to take place resulted in a limited and inadequate expression of interest in the project. Therefore, the tender process was aborted,” the ministry said.

“Given that over a protracted period, efforts to obtain the services of a structural engineer did not yield the desired result, the ministry engaged the services of Rural Water Supply Limited to undertake a structural report to inform the scope of works and embarked upon the process of utilising the restricted bidding procurement methodology to have the work carried out as soon as possible. However, the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) did not support use of the restricted bidding procurement process,” the ministry added.

The ministry said that consequently, it moved to utilise the national competitive bidding process. “The approval of the PPC was received November 18, 2024, and the ministry immediately engaged with the selected contractor and issued a ‘Commencement of Works’ letter,” the ministry said. 

According to the ministry, it is anticipated that the contractor will commence work on Tuesday, November 19.

The ministry said it regrets injury reportedly caused to a senior citizen due to the collapse of the staircase at the housing scheme. “However, the MEGJC was bound by law to await the decision of the PPC before causing work to commence.”

The ministry added: “The Member of Parliament, who over the past few years has had conversations with MEGJC personnel towards having the referenced corrective work carried out, was repeatedly briefed on the challenges being experienced, including security concerns, which have delayed commencement of the work.

“The member of parliament had proposed that an individual be contracted to have the repair work executed. However, the individual was not assessed to meet the criteria required or to possess the technical expertise which are necessary for a contractor to be engaged to conduct the major repairs which are required.

“The Government is undertaking a general review of the procurement process with a view of increasing efficiency. The MEGJC is committed to executing infrastructure upgrade work which falls under its remit in a lawful and timely manner and remains open to having dialogue with all its stakeholders.

Further to this commitment, the ministry recently signed a contract valued at $22, 765,253.20 million to facilitate housing infrastructure remedial work in Wilton Gardens which falls in the Opposition Leader’s constituency.