…Minister Valerie Adams-Yearwood denies influencing contracts award to husband

Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Adams-Yearwood said her husband Godfrey Yearwood was awarded contracts through the official bidding process as she poured cold water on allegations that she influenced the process.
“I had no input whatsoever, with regard to the award of these contracts,” Minister Adams-Yearwood said on Monday while explaining that she only became aware that her husband had been awarded contracts to build a number of housing units when he informed her.

In setting the record straight, the Housing Minister said her husband, a well-known contractor for over 33 years, was contracted by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) to construct one duplex unit, two single elevated units and two units for the differently-abled – a total of three contracts. These contracts, she noted, were all signed in 2017 with the final one signed in December 2017.

“Prior to that, he was contracted early 2017 along with another contractor to do rehabilitation works at the Linden office to which both contractors were highly commended (publicly) by the CEO, Mr. Lelon Saul,” Minister Adams-Yearwood posited.
It was noted that the Mr. Yearwood currently has one contract outstanding which will conclude in two weeks. The Housing Minister emphasized that all the contracts awarded to her husband were done through the correct and legal process.

“Like all other contractors, every contract that Mr. Yearwood has received was done through the official bidding process. Every contract that was/is engaged in was awarded by the competent authority – the Board of Directors of CHPA, of which I am not a member. Like all other contractors, Mr. Yearwood is subject to the same rules and regulations, without exception,” she said.

It was alleged that Minister Adams-Yearwood had collected monies on her husband’s behalf but this she said is far from the truth. “There is absolutely no truth to the unfounded allegation that I collected any monies on behalf of my husband. I have never collected any cash or cheque(s) on behalf of Yearwood Contracting & Consultancy Company. It is a total falsehood,” she said.

It was explained that during her travels for medical reasons, her husband authorised Delroy Anthony to sign for cheques that became payable during Mr. Yearwood’s absence.
“I do not preside over any aspect of the contract award process. The selection of contractors, the awarding of and/or the termination of contracts are outside my remit as Minister. I had no involvement in the (pre or post) award of the contracts to my husband or any other contractor,” she reiterated.

In 2017, as part of the effort to promote the Housing Solutions 2017 and Beyond Project, Minister Adams-Yearwood was present at the symbolic signing ceremony for contractors that had been pre-qualified to build houses for the Housing Expo. It was noted that two of the contractors signed their documents that day at which time all aspects of the selection and award processes had been completed by the competent authority.
“My presence was purely ceremonial. The other time that I would have spoken with contractors would have been to discuss policy matters and share our expectations with regard to meeting deadlines and quality standards,” she explained.

On the issue of indebtedness to sub-contractor, the Minister said as far as she is aware, a sub-contractor, by the name of Desmond Murphy, was engaged by Mr. Yearwood in 2018. “During the period of (6) weeks, while we were overseas, the sub-contractor did a lot of substandard work which was rejected by CH&PA as well as several materials which were purchased by Mr. Yearwood and left in possession of Mr. Murphy could not be accounted for. The defective works had to be corrected by the contractor Mr. Yearwood using his own finances. The sub-contractor, therefore, could not be paid for those works,” she explained. The contractor had complained to the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo about the situation.