Golding to testify
Published:Tuesday | June 8, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter
PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding heads a list of state officials who Contractor General Greg Christie wants to provide sworn testimony in a probe on the controversial proposed sale of the Government's 45 per cent stake in Jamalco to Chinese company Zhuhai Hongfan.
Hilary Alexander, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mining, and her predecessor, Marcia Forbes, will also be summoned by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) to provide sworn testimony in the special statutory investigation to be conducted by the oversight body.
In a release yesterday, Christie said the OCG's requisitions would require each respondent to provide testimony to the OCG regarding, among other things, their knowledge of the circumstances of the proposed deal and to do so on pain of criminal prosecution under Section 8 of the Perjury Act and Section 29 (a) of the Contractor General Act.
The first requisitions will be issued by the OCG to the prime minister, Alexander and Forbes no later than Wednesday.
Other government officials who will be called on to give sworn testimonies include James Robertson, minister of energy and mining, and Howard Mitchell, chairman of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute.
Grave concerns
According to Christie, in April 2009, Mitchell and Forbes reportedly met with the OCG to brief them on the Government's then prospective arrangements with Hongfan and its agent, Port Reliant, "acting on what they said were the instructions of the prime minister.
"Immediately after the meeting, Contractor General Greg Christie wrote to the GOJ to express his grave concerns about what was told to him and the issues of a conflict of interest and the lack of transparency and competition which the representations had raised," a press statement from the OCG said yesterday.
And Christie has sounded a warning to anyone who might attempt to obstruct the OCG's probe.
He said Section 29 (b) of the Contractor General Act makes it a criminal offence for any person, without lawful justification or excuse, to hinder, resist or refuse to comply with the lawful requirement of a contractor general in the execution of his duties under the law.
The Attorney General's Department had contended that the OCG did not have jurisdiction over the divestment of state assets. However, Christie said this was of little concern to the OCG, as the legal opinion offered by the department was flawed and misguided.
In dismissing the legal advice, Christie said the current administration had previously called upon the OCG to investigate asset divestments undertaken by the former People's National Party government.
"For this reason alone, the administration's 180-degree turn posture is likely to be seen for what it appears to be: a highly suspicious and dangerous selective application of the rule of law," said Christie.