Ruel Reid’s appearance at JTA conference not surprising to educators
Published:Friday | August 23, 2024 | 12:10 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The appearance of disgraced former Education Minister Ruel Reid at the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA’s) just-concluded 60th annual conference is not a surprise to educators who attended the event, with some saying he was within his rights to be present.
Reid, a former JTA president who is currently battling corruption charges, sat on the platform with other past JTA presidents on Monday night during the installation of newly minted president, Dr Mark Smith, at the Ocean Coral Spring Hotel in Trelawny. He was also seen greeting current Education Minister Fayval Williams, but he did not address the conference or speak with the media at any point.
Commenting briefly on Reid’s appearance, Smith told The Gleaner that there is nothing in the JTA’s constitution that would bar the former minister from attending the conference.
“He [Reid] is a past president and, under our constitution, somebody is innocent until proven guilty. He has the right to be present, and his matter is before the court and he is innocent until proven guilty,” said Smith. “I do not think the court of public opinion should prevent him and, as far as I am aware, he is a paid-up member.”
That view is shared by Clayton Hall, another former JTA president, who noted that Reid was given an invitation to attend Smith’s installation ceremony, which he could have declined.
“Each member has a right to participate, and Ruel Reid, as a past president, had a formal invitation to the installation ceremony, and as such he was within his right to come. He was not here last year in 2023, and that was his choice, because there are a number of past presidents who were not here [for this year’s ceremony], but we provide seating for the past presidents on the platform at investitures, and it is part of our procedures,” said Hall.
Reid was appointed to the post of education minister by Prime Minister Andrew Holness in 2016, but resigned in March 2019 amid a corruption scandal involving the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).
Reid is charged with breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act, conspiracy to defraud, misconduct in a public office at common law, and breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act. He is charged alongside his wife Sharen, their daughter, Sharelle, former CMU President Fritz Pinnock, and Jamaica Labour Party Councillor for St Ann’s Brown’s Town division, Kim Brown Lawrence.
The accused were charged by the Financial Investigations Division (FID) following an investigation into nearly $50 million that was allegedly diverted from the CMU.
In June this year, Reid received a $3.3-million settlement from Jamaica College, the institution for which he is former principal, after he filed a lawsuit against the school in July 2023 seeking $28 million plus interest. The lawsuit claimed that certain incentives Reid should have received when he was the school’s principal were not paid over to him during the period he was absent from the school on secondment, and then on special leave, to act as minister of education.