Tavares-Finson slams IC chairman over comments to parliamentary committee
Published:Tuesday | October 15, 2024 | 6:19 PM
President of the Senate, Tom Tavares-Finson, is strongly rebuking Chairman of the Integrity Commission, Retired Justice Seymour Panton, for suggesting that reports from the Integrity Commission might have leaked into the public domain via the Parliament.
Senator Tavares-Finson said he is "confident that the integrity of the processes parliament observes in zealously abiding by protocols concerning the confidentiality of reports prior to tabling, is beyond reproach."
Tom Tavares-Finson's comments were contained in a statement to the media on Tuesday following Panton's appearance before the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee.
He has chastised Panton for misleading the meeting:
"Justice Panton misled the parliament when he suggested that information from the Commission leaks only after it is sent to parliament. This is not so. We had an instance where in November of 2023 details concerning an alleged probe by the Commission were reported on in extensive detail by the Gleaner before any report was sent to Parliament.
"In another instance, an Opposition Member of Parliament recently used a political platform to in a most vulgar manner predict the tabling of a report by the Integrity Commission," Tavares-Finson reiterated.
Tavares-Finson added that Panton's comments regarding the water at Gordon House were "rude, disrespectful, offensive and out-of-order".
He said Panton should introspect and offer a suitably worded apology to the Parliament for his "contemptuous" comments.
Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.