Trade unionist calls interdiction of NEPA building inspector oppressive
Published:Friday | February 2, 2024 | 1:12 PM
The industrial relations consultant representing National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) building inspector Rhyan Henry has charged that his client's interdiction and 20 per cent salary cut are oppressive and unlawful.
The claim was made in a letter dated January 31, which was dispatched to NEPA by trade unionist Lambert Brown.
Henry was sent on interdiction, minus 20 per cent of his salary, to facilitate a “disciplinary investigation” into “allegation of gross misconduct”, NEPA indicated in a January 17 letter to him, The Sunday Gleaner first reported.
The building inspector was the first to flag breaches detected at the controversial Charlemont housing development in St Andrew, which was undertaken by president of the state-owned National Water Commission Mark Barnett and his wife Annette.
READ: KSAMC probing Barnetts' housing development
The NEPA letter, which was signed by Karlene Hamilton Reid, Director of Human Resource Management and Development, explained that its actions were based on the agency's human resource resources policies and procedures manual of August 2023.
It indicated, too, that the interdiction and salary cut was “in accordance with Regulation 32 of the Public Services Regulation (1962).”
“It must be stressed that at this stage, this action…is purely to gather evidence to conclude whether further action, if any, should be taken,” the letter said.
Brown, in his response to Hamilton Reid, said NEPA's letter to his client is an “admission” that Henry currently faces no disciplinary proceedings “since no investigation has been done and there has been no conclusion that such disciplinary proceedings are necessary.”
He noted, too, that no criminal proceedings have commenced against Henry.
“These are two conditions precedent for any lawful interdiction to take place under Regulation 32 of the Public Services Regulations. Neither has been met,” the trade union consultant said in his letter to Hamilton Reid.
“In their absence, such an act of interdiction must be seen as an abuse of process as well as being oppressive.”
Brown also charged that the 20 per cent salary cut without a hearing is “unlawful” and urged NEPA to “immediately rescind the unjustified interdiction of Mr Henry”.
“Put simply, Mr Henry has not been charged with any disciplinary infraction. Your investigation is to determine if there is any basis to even bring such charges. Why therefore act now as if to pre-empt a finding of the investigation,” Brown cautioned.
- Livern Barrett
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