Appointed watchdog of the country's government contract awards process, Contractor General Greg Christie, has rubbished claims made by Blue Cross of Jamaica Limited (BCJL), which suggested that it should have retained the Government Employee Administrative Staff Only (GEASO) health-scheme contract.

Mr. Christie argued that after reading the letter from Blue Cross chairman, Dr. Henry Lowe, one is likely to get the impression that the points accredited to BCJL and Life of Jamaica (LoJ) - 104 and 96, respectively - were the sole determinants for the award of the GEASO contract. "Nothing, however, could be further from the truth," Mr. Christie said.

"The chairman inadvertently omitted to make reference to the fact that the very RFP (request for proposal), upon which he has based the validity of his arguments, makes it crystal clear that these points were earned by the companies solely to pre-qualify them for further consideration for the award of the contract," he explained.

Additionally, Mr. Christie pointed out that once pre-qualified, the companies should have then been evaluated solely on cost.