A SENIOR Jersey civil servant has questioned whether Guernsey was “ever really committed” to a joint tender process to find a new ferry operator for the Channel Islands.
Richard Corrigan made the comments while he faced questions over the initial joint bid between Jersey and Guernsey.
The process began in May last year with the launch of a pan-island tender that collapsed in October when Guernsey revealed that it had decided to appoint Brittany Ferries – incumbent Condor Ferries’ majority owner – as its preferred bidder.
DFDS won the subsequent Jersey-only tender and has signed a 20-year contract to provide freight and passenger services, starting from 28 March.
During a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee, held as part of a review of government procurement, Mr Corrigan – who had to remove himself from the tender process after indicating a preference for DFDS in a social-media poll by “inadvertent mistake” – questioned whether Guernsey was “ever really committed to openly entering into a process that may result in a change of the operator”.
He added: “Indeed, we’ve ended up in a position where they’ve appointed Condor.”
Towards the end of the hearing, committee chair Deputy Inna Gardiner asked about lessons learned that could be applied to future tender processes.
Mr Corrigan said: “Speaking frankly, I think the incumbent’s behaviour for a significant part of the last several years has been nothing short of reprehensible, in terms of their attitude towards the government and to Islanders’ interests in ferry services.”
He continued: “That should be a barrier to being able to enter into a procurement process, quite frankly, if you’ve played hard and fast in that way.
“The fact that they were given a fair and objective crack of the whip through a tender process, I think is testament to a desire to try and secure a better deal all round for the Island, wherever that came from – with some confidence attempting to be placed in the fact that Brittany Ferries were coming more to the fore in the financial arrangements and the day-to-day operations of Condor.”
He went on to refer to an article from the JEP’s sister publication, Bailiwick Express, revealing months of tense correspondence between Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel and Brittany Ferries chief executive Christophe Mathieu published this week, saying: “….Condor’s behaviour, and as you’ll see in today’s media… there’s comprehensive correspondence between the minister and Condor which underscores that reprehensible behaviour on the part of key executives.”
Responding to Mr Corrigan’s comments, group head of communications for Brittany Ferries Nigel Wonnacott said: “I suppose you have to admire the chutzpah, coming as it does from a man removed from the ferry contract file.”
He continued: “‘Reprehensible’ is publicly expressing a preference in a so-called competitive bid process when you should be neutral.
“ ‘Reprehensible’ is the contempt in which those they purport to represent are held, following a stream of mis-remembering, mis-representing and mis-truthing.”
He added: “I guess that’s something all tuppenny-ha’penny civil servants should think about before chucking stones from their massive glass house.”
