Nothing wrong was done…. that declaration came from telecommunications minister Daryl Vaz, as he refuted the report by the auditor general, that procurement laws were breached in the acquisition of star link devices for the hurricane Melissa response efforts.

Mr. Vaz said he stands resolutely behind his actions which were in the best interest of Jamaicans.

The AG’s report, tabled in parliament Tuesday, noted that the procurement of 200 star link devices, valuing 12.12 million dollars, was initiated by way of a ministerial instruction, instead of by the director general of office of disaster preparedness and emergency management.

The report says this contravenes the public procurement act, which assigns direct responsibility for all procurement activities to the head of the procuring entity.

In a statement today, Mr. Vaz pointed out that the extreme crisis demanded immediate action.

He strongly rejected the suggestion of wrongdoing for his justifiable actions.

The minister said the auditor general’s claim that his involvement breached section 20 of the public procurement act, which assigns sole responsibility for procurement activities to the head of the procuring entity, is both uninformed and grossly inaccurate.

According to Mr. Vaz, all actions taken were in keeping with the “guidance note on the acquisition of goods, services and works in the situation of emergency or extreme urgency” issued by the office of public procurement policy.

He said in keeping with the guidance note, there is no doubt that the “requirements for employing emergency procurement procedures” were satisfied.

These requirements are a genuine situation of emergency or urgency and the necessity of the procurement activity.

The guidelines further state that, subject to fiscal responsibility considerations, procurements in situations of emergency or extreme urgency may be approved by the head of a procuring entity, regardless of the value and the method of procurement used.

Mr. Vaz pointed out that procurement of the devices was a result of the emergency situation, during the initial stages of the rescue and recovery process and the demand for telecommunication and connectivity in the worst-affected parishes.

He said acting in his capacity as co-chair of the Relief and Recovery Oversight Committee, he took a decision that ensured that the government was able to secure the available devices and have them distributed to the relevant state agencies and recovery teams quickly.

Mr. Vaz stressed that the procurement of the devices was possible as a result of the swift and decisive actions taken, and he makes no apology for this.

In response to the statement by Opposition Spokesman on Telecommunications Phillip Paulwell, Mr. Vaz said it was disingenuous and an attempt to seek relevance.

The minister stated that some opposition members got the same star link devices Mr. Paulwell referred to.

He said the accountability that spokesman and the opposition demand may begin with the devices they received.

Meantime, the auditor general’s report, stated that a review of correspondences revealed that the procurement activity was initiated by a letter from the Minister of Telecommunications, in his capacity as the co-chair of the Relief and Recovery Oversight Committee, on November 13, 2025, to the attention of the ODPEM Director General for payment to be made for the 200 devices to a supplier.

The report added that only the head of the entity is legally empowered to initiate procurement and there is no provision under the Public Procurement Act, that allows the minister to approve or initiate commitments, to select suppliers or vendors or to give any directive to ODPEM as to which supplier to pay.

The star link devices were bought using funds from the 350 million dollars withdrawal requested by the financial secretary, but they were not listed among the items that supported this request.

The AG recommended that moving forward, procurement activities should be strictly initiated and approved by the head of the entity, in accordance with statutory requirements, to safeguard transparency and accountability.