Why Daryl Vaz should ‘put up or shut up’

THE EDITOR, Sir: DARYL VAZ has thrown down the gauntlet to the former contractor general, to either put up or shut up. This is quite characteristic of Mr Vaz, as he tends to use rhetoric and an ‘in your face’ attitude to shade his responses when confronted. We saw it recently when he suggested that all the Corporate Area major roadworks had to be started at the same time, as Jamaica would have to use or lose the available funding.

In the case of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC)/ St Ann property, he took his case a bit further by suggesting that his business acumen should not be challenged, as he helped Jamaica realise a great business deal.

BEST POSSIBLE DEAL?

He claims that the sale of the UDC property in St Ann was the best possible deal for the country, as selling below the forced sale value would result in jobs and business taxes. Well now I suggest it is time for Mr Vaz to put up or shut up. I am not aware of his sterling business record that he alludes to, but be that as it may, we would like to see the clause in the loan contracts which states clearly that Jamaica would have lost all access to loan funds if every single major roadwork project in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine did not start immediately.

We would also like to see for ourselves the other bids for the St Ann property, which suggested that only the successful bidder, who benefited from that huge discount, would be able to build and/or renovate the property, thereby resulting in jobs and taxes. Apparently, all the other bids would not have resulted in a similar outcome.

I assume this will be yet another nine-day wonder, but to Mr Vaz and his colleagues, “You can fool some people sometimes…” – Bob Marley. VOICE OF JAM ROCK