Full Text | ‘I forgot’ …Dalrymple-Philibert addresses 'missing' vehicle from statutory declaration filing with Integrity Commission
Published:Tuesday | September 19, 2023 | 6:20 PM
Speaker of the House of Representatives Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert says her failure to declare the purchase of a vehicle using a government motor vehicle concession on her statutory declaration to the Integrity Commission was an oversight as she forgot about it.
In a statement today in her defence, Dalrymple-Philibert, who is also the Member of Parliament for South Trelawny, said it escaped her mind to include the information on her filings because the vehicle was primarily used by her sister and her family.
She insisted that at no time did she seek to knowingly make a misrepresentation to the Integrity Commission, which has accused her of allegedly making false statements in her statutory declarations for 2015 to 2021.
READ: Dalrymple-Philibert to be charged for alleged false IC declarations
“I honestly forgot about the vehicle and did not include it among the list of other vehicles I declared,” she said.
She said she would be moving to rectify the situation.
Full Text
I take the [time] as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Member of Parliament for South Trelawny to address the report of the Integrity Commission on my 2015 to 2021 Statutory Declarations.
As required by law, I have always filed my statutory declarations and have done so in a timely and transparent manner given that I have nothing to hide.
In 2015, I had applied for and obtained a motor vehicle concession to purchase a 2015 motor vehicle.
The vehicle was purchase for Six Million Dollars ($6,000,000.00) and financed by a loan of Five Million Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars ($5,800,000.00) from Sagicor Bank. The loan was taken out by Lincoln Eatmon, my sister's spouse, and a deposit of $200,0000 was paid by both my husband and Mr. Eatmon.
The vehicle was used primarily by my sister, her spouse and her son (my nephew) and occasionally by me when I am in Kingston. This is due to the fact that my husband and I owned more than one motor vehicle and as a rural MP, I preferred driving a SUV because of the rough terrain that I am accustomed to traversing when in South Trelawny.
In using the concession, to acquire the vehicle, the Government of Jamaica placed a 3-year restriction on my ability to sell or transfer the vehicle. The vehicle remained in my name and was never sold to anyone until over seven years later in May 2023. The vehicle was never sold to my sister, her spouse, or any other family member.
Further, Sagicor Bank placed a lien on the title until the loan was repaid in 2022 - seven (7) years later. Therefore, my ownership of the vehicle was a public record at the Tax Administration of Jamaica, the Bank, the Insurance Company, and the Motor Vehicle Examination Department.
As stated earlier, the vehicle was primarily used by my sister and her family and at the time of filing my statutory declaration, I honestly forgot about the vehicle and did not include it among the list of other vehicles I declared.
When the Integrity Commission called me in to meet with them, I reviewed my file thereafter and called the Clerk to the Houses of Parliament and requested a copy of the list of vehicles that I had acquired using a motor vehicle concession. Having received the list which confirmed
the 2015 vehicle, I revealed to the Integrity Commission that the vehicle was unintentionally omitted from my statutory declaration.
The Integrity Commission Report, specifically at 5.2.0 page 34, confirms that I have always been compliant in the filing of my statutory declaration “save and except for the omission” of the vehicle, which therefore makes the declaration inaccurate and incomplete. I am therefore surprised at the conclusion reach by the Integrity Commission, that I knowingly failed to declare the vehicle which was acquired via a loan.
The Commission recommends at 5.3.6 on page 37 that I resubmit a complete and accurate statutory declaration as required by law. I will do so by tomorrow, Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
It should be noted that the Integrity Commission suggested that a national training program be developed for members of parliament in filing complete and accurate declarations in keeping with government policies, regulation and legislation as the situation that has affected me, may be applicable to others.
In closing, I must clearly restate that I declared my ownership of the vehicle to the Integrity Commission, prior to the report being written and submitted. Let me be clear. I did not knowingly misrepresent the position to the Integrity Commission; it was a genuine oversight.
The matter is now in the hands of my lawyers and I will allow due process to take its course. My legal team is led by Peter Champagnie K.C.
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