Holness still has questions to answer, asserts PNP
Published:Friday | February 17, 2023 | 4:54 PM
The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) is asserting that a cloud still hangs over Prime Minister Andrew Holness despite the ruling that no charge be brought in relation to allegations of possible corruption regarding the awarding of government contracts to business associates.
The PNP says the investigative report of the Integrity Commission highlights serious cause for concern.
The 107-page report raised allegations of conflict of interest regarding tens of millions of dollars of contracts awarded to close associates from as far back as 2009 when Holness was Minister of Education.
It contains details of an investigation into the award of government contracts to Westcon Construction Limited between 2006 and 2009.
The report said the company's directors, Robert Garvin and Donovan Simpson, are known to Holness for more than 20 years.
The commission referred the matter to its director of corruption prosecution, who ruled that no charges would be preferred against the prime minister.
The PNP is of the view that despite this development there has been no sanitising of the basic facts found by the investigation report.
It argued that the serious conflict of interest and cronyism inherent in the findings have not been refuted.
“The Director of Corruption Prosecution has found that there was not enough evidence to mount a successful criminal prosecution; however, that is very different from exoneration,” asserted the PNP in a media release this afternoon.
“The narrative being promoted in some quarters that Andrew Holness has been exonerated by the decision not to prosecute is fundamentally misleading,” it continued.
The party argued that the ruling of the director of corruption prosecution does not change the content of the report of the director of investigation.
“The court of public opinion has read the 107-page report and they will judge the prime minister for his actions.”
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