Solicitor General advises PAC on Omer payments

The Solicitor General Douglas Leys has advised Parliament\'s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to await the outcome of a civil case involving Dr. Omer Thomas and the Bureau of Standards Jamaica, before deliberating on controversial payments made to him.



Payments in the sum of more than $8 million to the bureau\'s former chief executive officer were highlighted in the auditor general’s report as a breach of government guidelines.



Thomas had reportedly received the package as ex gratia payment at the end of his tenure at the standards agency.



Last year, the PAC sought advice from the solicitor general on whether a hearing of the matter would be appropriate in light of the civil action.



The unresolved matter was highlighted at yesterday\'s meeting of the PAC by chairman, Dr. Omar Davies.



In a letter to the PAC, the solicitor general said his research found that there were no provisions, which would prohibit the parliamentary committee from conducting its investigations.



However, he expressed the view that it would be more appropriate for the PAC to await the decision of the Supreme Court before proceeding.



In 2006, then permanent secretary in the ministry of commerce, science and technology Dr. Jean Dixon wrote to the attorney general\'s department for advice on the controversial payment to Thomas.



In a letter dated June 1, 2006 AJ Nicholson, the attorney general at the time, responded that there was no suggestion that Thomas had any contractual entitlement to ex gratia payments of $6.5 million and office equipment valued at more than $300,000.