Shaw backs out
AUDLEY Shaw yesterday vacated the chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament which is probing the US$43-million cost overrun on the Whitehouse hotel project, saying comments he had made at a political rally on the weekend had cast a shadow on his chairmanship.
Shaw decision to voluntary give up the chair of the PAC yesterday forced a postponement of the committee’s plan to question former Urban Development Corporation (UDC) executive chairman Vin Lawrence and its project management representative, Nevalco’s Alston Stewart, about the UDC’s role in the cost overruns at the controversial hotel project
The PAC is, however, expected to reconvene next Tuesday, following the naming of Mike Henry, the opposition spokesman on transport and a veteran PAC member, as its temporary chairman, after the committee recommended the appointment of a new chairman and that the person’s tenure of appointment be determined. Henry appointment as temporary chairman was named later in the day by Opposition Leader Bruce Golding.
Shaw, speaking at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) rally in Portland made comments intimating that Lawrence would be given a hard time during the sitting of the PAC.
However, when the PAC convened yesterday, Shaw, the opposition spokesman on finance, said his weekend comments had given rise to doubts that he could remain impartial in relation to the questioning of the former UDC chair and announced that he would be vacating the chair “in order to avoid questions of motive being raised as to the conduct of the proceedings”. He then invited the committee to appoint a member to take the chair temporarily.
Government members who lost no time in voicing their full agreement with the decision, further insisted that Shaw apologise for his comments which they said had prejudiced the entire proceedings and also suggested that the PAC chairman should not preside over the sittings during the period the UDC was under probe.
Government Member John Junor said Shaw’s “unfortunate” statement had not only shown a clear bias against Lawrence, but the whole situation involving the UDC, and would colour the results. “This committee is not to be a political football,” said Junor.
In the meantime, government member K D Knight, who was vociferous in his support of Junor’s stance, also dismissed suggestions that another Opposition member be identified during the sitting to take the chair.
According to Knight, while he was in no way attempting to “vilify” the opposition, Shaw’s statement had given the impression that his committee colleagues had some by some unspoken agreement decided to give Lawrence a hard time.
“The statement that was made said ‘we’. On whose behalf did you speak? Who were you speaking about? Not one member here has disassociated themselves from what you said. What confidence would I have in any of them chairing this proceeding by being appointed as a temporary chairman?” Knight asked. He added that “no one on this side (government) would have confidence in any one”.
Knight added that the Standing Orders governing PAC did not give the committee the power to appoint a chair. Instead he said, the decision should be taken by the House of Representatives.
A collected Shaw refused to be ruffled by statements inferring that he was unfit to be the committee chair and after a 15-minute break which he took to “further advise himself on the matter”, the decision was taken to refer the matter to the Lower House of Parliament for it to decide on which member would chair the committee in the interim.
“We as politicians need to be able to be less hypocritical and understand what is the cut and thrust of politics and what is the conduct of parliamentary affairs, including those of the Public Accounts Committee,” said Shaw, in a parting shot.
During its sitting last week Tuesday, the PAC decided to have Lawrence and Stewart in the hot seat after present UDC president and chief executive officer Marjorie Campbell admitted that things had gone awry and that the safety latch on cost overruns was not utilised by Nevalco, the UDC’s site manager on the ground.
The Whitehouse project is owned one-third by the UDC, one-third by the state-run National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) and one-third by Gorstew, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart’s holding company, through a joint venture called Ackendown Newtown Development Company (ANDCO). Nevalco represented the UDC as project manager on the ground.