(Jamaica Observer) The Minister Bruce Golding has ordered that the police be called in to investigate the disappearance of 3,000 chairs and 70,000 square feet of carpeting which were in the custody of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) at the newly constructed Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.
The US$62,000 worth of items were leased from a supplier in Puerto Rico by the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) in January for use at Caribbean Marketplace — the first event to be held at the facility.
Arrangements were said to have been later made between the supplier, Exhibition Services Inc (ESI), and the UDC for the items to be purchased to outfit the state-of-the art facility but that deal fell through, the Observer has learnt.
A source told the Observer that the chairs were only discovered to be missing in July, after Customs requested more than $2 million on the suspended Customs’ duty which was granted to the JHTA with the understanding that the items would have been returned following the conclusion of the major tourism trade show.
The JHTA is said to have sought the prime minister’s intervention last month after several letters to the UDC went unanswered.
“I have found the contents of a report on the matter which I requested completely unsatisfactory. I have directed that the matter be reported to the police,” Golding stated in a letter to the JHTA, a copy of which was obtained by the Observer.
In a letter to the prime minister, the JHTA explained that ESI has been trying unsuccessfully to retrieve the items.
“We have recently been advised that the items were ‘discarded as construction garbage’ by the UDC/Montego Bay Convention Centre,” the JHTA letter to the prime minister stated.
The JHTA made it clear that the supplier intends to visit Jamaica soon to retrieve his property.
“Unfortunately, he will need to be advised that his 3,000 folding chairs and 70,000 square feet of carpet left in the care of the UDC/Montego Bay Convention Centre cannot be located,” the JHTA pointed out.
In a statement to the media yesterday, the JHTA confirmed the disappearance of the items but declined to reveal much more.
“In the light of the fact that the matter is being handled by the police it would be inappropriate for the JHTA to comment further at this time,” said JHTA President Evelyn Smith.
She confirmed that the JHTA sought the intervention of the prime minister after efforts to assist the supplier to retrieve the items failed.
Meanwhile, Carrole Guntley, director general in tourism ministry, one of the organisers of Marketplace, also wrote to the UDC.
Guntley, in her letter, noted that while the items were being negotiated for sale between the UDC and ESI, the local shipping company requested the return of the shipping containers in which the goods had arrived and were being temporarily stored.
She said because of the high cost of rental for the containers the UDC was asked to store the items inside the facility.
According to Guntley, the chairs and carpet were discovered missing when the JTB office arranged for Customs to check off the items for export.
She said that after several attempts to contact a UDC official she was advised by him on July 18 that when the area where the items were stored was needed by the contractors to complete some work, the items had been “discarded as construction garbage” on his instructions.
She said she was never advised that the area was needed.
“The import entry fees on the items are outstanding as the Customs Department has no record of them being re-exported,” she concluded.
Contacted yesterday, head of Customs Danville Walker denied prior knowledge of the situation, noting only that his agency was not pressing for the outstanding duties to be paid.
But the JHTA in its letter to the UDC expressed concern that the situation will embarrass the country if it is not resolved soon.
“We are particularly concerned that without a quick resolution, there will undoubtedly be severely embarrassing consequences for our country,” the JHTA concluded.
Meanwhile, the prime minister in his letter noted that the legal advice from the attorneys for the UDC is that the State-run agency will have to bear responsibility for the value of the items and the relevant Customs duties which were suspended.
“The board of the UDC has been directed to take further appropriate action in the matter,” he said.
But yesterday, the UDC in a response to an Observer query said it is investigating the disappearance of the items from the convention centre.
“It has come to the attention of the Urban Development Corporation that chairs and carpet from the Montego Bay Convention Centre have gone missing from the compound and, as a result, the Corporation has initiated a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the matter,” the UDC said in a statement issued late yesterday.
The UDC, however, failed to admit that it was in negotiation to purchase the items, noting instead that the chairs and carpet were initially retained at the convention centre for use at another planned event held in May.
It noted, however, that the circumstances under which the items were removed from the facility were not clear, but that the incident has been reported to the police as well as to the Corporation’s Security Department. The investigation, the UDC said, is also to be supported by managers of SMG — an international facilities management company.
