Pressure mounts for action on shelved Hayles OCG report

The Greg Christie-led Integrity Commission is under increasing pressure to revisit the court matter involving former Hanover Western Member of Parliament Ian Hayles, almost five years after the Supreme Court granted an injunction blocking the publication of the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) report into his actions .

The Gleaner has been informed that since that time, the matter has fallen off the list at the Supreme Court and that no steps have been taken by the commission to ensure that it has been put back.

The OCG and two other anti-corruption oversight bodies were subsumed into the entity.

On Tuesday, executive director of National Integrity Action, Professor Trevor Munroe, insisted that the commission, which now exercises the functions of the OCG, “promptly” apply to the Supreme Court for the injunction to be immediately lifted.

“It is unacceptable in the context of our constitutional right to information that the Speaker remains barred from tabling the report of the contractor general into the Ian Hayles matter,” Munroe told The Gleaner.

His comment came hours after former Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in a letter to the editor, voiced concern that nothing has happened since the imposition of the injunction by the Supreme Court.

“It is troubling not only because the Parliament and the public have not been allowed to see the contractor general’s report in this particular matter, but it seems that an avenue has been provided through which persons who may have something to hide are able, through resort to the court, to keep it hidden,” said Golding.

The former prime minister believes that the injunction is a “troubling intrusion of the court in the function, authority, and privileges of Parliament and a breach of the principle of separation of powers”.

Hayles, in March 2017, filed for an injunction barring the tabling of the report in the House of Representatives that detailed allegations of irregularities against him.

The report centred on allegations of conflict of interest, irregularity, and/or impropriety in relation to the construction of buildings without approval from the Hanover Parish Council (since renamed the Hanover Municipal Corporation).

But Hayles has maintained his innocence, sharing that he has written to the Integrity Commission requesting a meeting to discuss the report.

That has, however, been rejected by Christie, who, he said, has indicated that the matter remains before the court.

“It didn’t need to be before the courts because it is a miscarriage of justice,” the People’s National Party vice president said when contacted by The Gleaner on Tuesday.

“I have nothing to hide. There is nothing in the report that says Ian Hayles did anything wrong with any kind of public funds or did something untoward or hanky-panky, and you will never live long enough to hear that,” he declared.

WITCH-HUNT

He said that the report amounts to “nothing but a witch-hunt” aimed at tarnishing his character.

Hayles said that the report falsely concluded that he and his wife had built on government land, noting that the title for the property, which was initially seized, was returned to them after it was determined that the land did not belong to the State.

He said a second allegation in the report that he built without approval was also untrue, arguing that no application was made to the parish council in his name, nor did he build any property in his name.

“So, therefore, that argument can’t hold water,” he said.

The politician also denied any involvement in fraudulent activities, as suggested by the report.

In the same breath, Hayles hit back at Golding, arguing that he should refrain from commenting on the matter.

“No report will ever speak about me in light of what Bruce Golding did and have done to this country in terms of Jamaica’s reputation internationally and locally ... . Thank God for the courts of Jamaica and not the mouth or pen of Bruce Golding that I can seek justice where I think and know that an act of injustice was taking place against me,” said Hayles.