Infrastructure Minister, Stephenson King, has had to come forward to defend the actions of Economic Development Minister, Guy Joseph, following leaked documents detailing the awarding of several direct contracts approved by Minister Joseph. Minister Stephenson King refuted claims that the actions were illegal or inappropriate in any way. He described the contracts awarded as being necessary. In his capacity as Acting Prime Minister, and Minister of Finance, Minister Joseph signed in excess of 20 projects on the 20th of November. According to Minister Stephenson King, once the budget for the Infrastructural
Works was approved, the government had to push through with a bit of a backlog of contracts, hence the direct awards, so as to stay on course with its targets. He explains that direct awards are covered under the finance act which grants the minister for finance the latitude in cases when necessary, to issue a direct award to a preferred contractor based on experience or based on proposals submitted to the government. He insists that the seeming controversy is nothing but political mischief.