Integrity Commission wants Harrison gone? - Solicitor general says ‘paying him out’ can be considered
Published:Tuesday | May 7, 2019 | 12:20 AMErica Virtue/Senior Gleaner Writer
More than a year after Contractor General Dirk Harrison’s office was subsumed into the National Integrity Commission, he is yet to get his instrument of appointment from Governor General Sir Patrick Allen and there are signs that the transparency watchdog could be considering buying out the remainder of his seven-year tenure.
An April 15 letter signed by Solicitor General Marlene Aldred – which has been obtained by The Gleaner – floated the idea that “consideration may be given to paying out the remainder of Mr Harrison’s entitlements to emoluments accrued under the Contractor General Act (now repealed)”.
Aldred, who was confirmed as solicitor general three weeks ago, further stated that “Mr Harrison should be paid pension when he retires, and the period of his aggregated service as contractor general and in the service of his Integrity Commission amounts to no less than seven years”.
Aldred’s letter, addressed to Justice Karl Harrison (no relation to Dirk) was titled ‘Re: Advice sought from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service re remuneration package for Dirk Harrison, former contractor general’.
Justice Harrison’s letter of clarification about Dirk Harrison’s status and the benefits to which he is entitled comes just over a year after the Integrity Commission was established, and years after it was known that the OCG would be subsumed into it.
Harrison’s final report
Dirk Harrison’s tenure as contractor general would have come to an end in 2020.
Bad blood has been flowing in the body established with the support of both the Government and the Opposition. The entity has been gagged from telling taxpayers about investigations being conducted, much unlike the autonomy enjoyed by former contractors general such as Dirk Harrison’s predecessor, Greg Christie, who was first to announce investigations being conducted.
Daggers have been drawn since Harrison’s final report as contractor general tore into a controversial land and beach acquisition deal between Puerto Caribe Limited, the operators of Moon Palace Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa, and the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).
Harrison concluded that Daryl Vaz, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, interfered in the sale of the property owned by the Government, through the UDC, resulting in Jamaica earning US$5 million below valuation.
Commission doesn’t back report
In an unprecedented move, the commission wrote a letter disassociating itself – from itself since Dirk Harrison is a director – from the former contractor general’s position that the persons fingered in the deal should not be allowed to table their response with the official report of the commission. The commission also took issue with some of the findings of the report, with Dirk Harrison stating that he was standing by the findings.
Meanwhile, Jeanette Calder, executive director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal, and former Justice Minister Mark Golding are calling for the commission to immediately appoint Dirk Harrison to the post of director of the Corruption Prosecution Division at the Integrity Commission.
Harrison, who was the contractor general, has been acting in the post for almost a year.
Speaking on Power 106 FM’s ‘Morning Agenda’ yesterday, they described the delay as unfortunate, adding that the former senior prosecutor has a track record of fearlessly fighting corruption.
“I think that (appointment) should be done immediately so that he can fill that gap and be properly empowered to do what he is supposed to do under the statute,” Golding said.