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Posted: Tuesday 17 January, 2017 at 3:35 PM

The Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd alleged Conflict of Interest Saga

By: Stanford Conway, SKNVibes.com

    BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DEPUTY PREMIER of Nevis and Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs et al, Hon. Mark Brantley was joined by members of the Federal Cabinet in stoutly defending one of their colleagues’ rights regarding the formation of a private business entity, which has sparked widespread debate in the twin-island Federation.

     

    In the latter part of December, last, word broke in the public domain that the Minister with Responsibility for Public Infrastructure, Post, Urban Development and Transport, the Hon. Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd, had formed a private company to supply building materials and had it registered on August 31, 2016.

    This issue was deemed a “conflict of interest” by many individuals who had taken to a number of local media houses and various social media platforms to share their opinions and concerns. 

    Speaking with media operatives at the commissioning of a Gift Shop at the Christophe Harbour Marina location some two weeks ago, Minister Liburd admitted to registering a private company and rubbished the conflict of interest allegation. 

    “Yes, I can say to you that I have registered a company. It is a Business Process Management Consultancy company and I have a right to. It is registered under the Financial Services Unit. The next step has not been taken and I have a right if I feel to take the next step, which is to apply for a business licence.”

    He was adamant that the conflict of interest allegation is being peddled by “those who were ousted from government almost two years ago”.

    The Minister declared that as a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis, there is an “inherent right” bestowed upon him to register a company.

    “I hope that you haven’t in the media come like those people who believe in their own propaganda. What is a cement company? Whether I establish one is so far from the truth,” Liburd told reporters at the recent commissioning of a gift shop at Christophe Harbour Marina location.

    He said that the company in question is not one that would be importing or distributing cement, since there are a number of businesses in the Federation currently providing the said service, but rather, his business entity is one that would be providing consultancy service.

    Liburd also told media operatives that he has some 20-years experience in the area of Business Management and Consultancy and he has now seen it fitting to venture into same.

    Speaking with WINN FM, Minister Liburd indicated that the company was not operationalised and that he was exercising his rights to incorporate a business despite being a Minister of Government.

    “I am saying that it is a right...I have a right. I exercise that right to incorporate a business. I have no authority; I have no licence to trade.”

    Among those who deemed the Minister’s action a conflict of interest is former Government Minister and co-founder of Operation Rescue, Dwyer Astaphan.

    Speaking last week Tuesday (Dec. 10) on his radio programme ‘The Operating Room’, Astaphan said: “The present Minister has been a Cabinet Minister for about 23 months. He has admitted to having formed the company but he claims that his company has not been licensed, by which I am taking him to be saying that the company is not dong any business. However, if in fact it has not been licenced, that cannot be taken that it was formed just for the sake of forming it. It was formed to be used as a vehicle to do business. So saying it is not licenced and not doing business, to me, brings no comfort.”

    He also expressed concern about Minister Liburd not listing his designation on the registration form as a Minister of Government as his occupation.

    “He lists, for a man who on August 31, 2016 appeared to and still appears to have every intention to continue being a Minister and maybe to seek re-election, you’d have thought he would not put as his occupation Business Process Management and Consultant. You would think that his course is charted to continue being a Minister of Government; so he didn’t put Member of Parliament or Minister of Government. That to me is a matter of concern...could have been an oversight.”

    Astaphan continued: “He said he has been in business for many years up to now. So now by his own admission, possibly as far back as the days when he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Port Authority and later a Permanent Secretary and whatever high position he held in government over the years, including the last two years as a Minister of Government, he is admitting that he has been carrying on a private business over those years.”
       
    The former Minister of National Security insinuated that Liburd’s action might create distrust in the Team Unity Administration by the people who voted for a change to past practices.

    “The people of this country voted on February 15, 2015 to bring an end to conflict of interest, to bring an end to insider trading, to bring an end to opaqueness in public office, an end to corruption, an end to any semblance or likelihood or risk of any of those things in public office, particularly in the highest levels of public office.

    “The people of this country voted for a change to transparency and accountability and integrity in public life. The people voted for an end to certain practices, not for a continuation of them accompanied by a justification referring to past practices; the very past practices which the voters rejected.”

    Addressing the topic of conflict of interest on the part of Ministers of Government in a recent commentary, former President of the Bar Association, Queen’s Counsel Charles Wilkin said: “A Minister who allows his personal interests to conflict with his public duties breaches his Oath of Office and may be guilty of misfeasance in public office. Engagement by a Minister in business, a profession or occupation is a breach of duty and misfeasance in public office.”

    He also said that the law allows anyone whose business is financially affected by the active engagement by a Minister in a competing business to sue the Minister, adding that available claims include damages for loss suffered and an injunction to stop the Minister. 

    “The Minister,” he stressed, “cannot therefore hide behind Cabinet for protection.”

    The Queen’s Counsel referred to the Integrity in Public Life Act, which he noted was passed in the National Assembly but noted “for reasons best known to it, the Government of the day did not bring it into force”.

    He said the Act is worth referring to in so far as it addresses conflicts of interest and that it contains a Code of Conduct which requires public officers, including Ministers of Government and Opposition politicians, to sign and to follow. 

    That code, Wilkin said, contains the following provisions:
     
    “A conflict of interest arises from a situation in which a public official has a private interest which is such as to influence, or appear to influence, the impartial and objective performance of his or her official duties.
     
    “A public official private interest includes any advantage to himself or herself, to his or her family, close relatives, friends and persons or organization with whom he or she has had business or potential relations. 

    “It also includes any liability whether financial or work relating thereto. 

    “Since the public official is usually the only person who knows whether he or she is in that situation, he or she has a personal responsibility to: 
    (a) be alert to any actual or potential conflict of interest; 
    (b) take steps to avoid such conflict;
    (c) disclose to his or her superiors any such conflict as soon as he or she becomes aware of it; 
    (d) comply with any final decision to withdraw from the situation or to divest himself or herself of the advantage causing the conflict. 

    “Whenever required to do so, a public official should declare whether or not he or she has a conflict of interest.”

    However, in his New Year’s Message on January 1, Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris assured the nation that the Team Unity Administration’s agenda is committed to good governance, accountability and transparency.

    “...It will reflect to our standing as a responsible member of the international community. We regularly lay audited accounts for public sector entities on the table of Parliament. The consistency with which we do this is a new norm and a fresh start in terms of transparency and accountability. Good governance is the norm by which we conduct the nation’s business.”

    Opposition Leader the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas also deemed Minister Liburd’s registration of a private business a conflict of interest.

    Speaking with WINN FM, Dr. Douglas said: “The Minister of Works has basically declared and tried to defend that he himself had opened a private company that will compete with other private companies doing the same business that he wants to do as a sitting member of Government. This is ridiculous...unfair competition in the private sector in terms of services and goods provided to the public.”

    The former Prime Minister was asked if he was in a position to criticise the Government after his Administration was accused of corruption.

    In response, he said: “If my Government was involved in those acts of corruption that they have been charged with, why haven’t they brought it to the attention of the public? The courts are still there, has anyone been brought before the courts? No, because it is just political talk, but here in this country at this time there is evidence and we shall unearth and bring to the attention of the public the evidence.”

    Dr. Douglas has accused the Team Unity Administration of dragging its feet on the Integrity in Public Life legislation, claiming that the slothfulness is for Ministers to enrich themselves by competing with the private sector.

    “They are using the absence of that particular piece of legislation to entrench themselves, to compete with the private sector, to feather their nests, to fill their pockets. And as I said, one Minister is so bold to have gone to the company registry, formed a company and is about to compete with established businesses doing the same thing and the Prime Minister is going to be unable to say anything to him and can’t do anything about...”

    However, in support of Liburd, Minister Brantley declared that nothing is wrong with him forming a company whilst a Minister of Government.

    “A company was formed, nothing is wrong with that. Each and every one of us is entitled to form a company. Each and every one of us is entitled to engage in some form of business. That is our right as a citizen!”

    He was at the time speaking on his weekly radio programme ‘On The Mark’, where he expressed dismay in learning that the issue had escalated to such proportions.

    “Mr. Liburd is a Minister of Government and we accept that he, as all of us, will be subjected to a higher level of scrutiny. Maybe some would say, ‘Required to perform at a higher level of probity.’ But I have been puzzled at the uproar caused by the formation of a company.

    “The formation of a company is ultimately meaningless. A company can be formed and indeed, based on my own discussions with Minister Liburd, this company is intended to be what we call a shelf company. That is, it is formed and put on a shelf. There is no intention to activate it, to get a business licence and to have it engaged in actual trade.”

    “And then there may be a multitude of reasons to do that. To form a company, because maybe you intend in several years, as he has indicated, once he demits office at whatever point to have a structure in place that he can then activate. There is nothing wrong with that.”

    Amid the ongoing ‘firestorm’, the Foreign Affairs Minister pointed out that it stands to reason that there would have been a problem if Minister Liburd had formed the company and had obtained a contract or contracts from the Government.

    The Cabinet members are also in support of Minister Liburd.

    An SKNIS press release headlined “Post Cabinet Briefing for Monday 9th, January, 2017”, stated that the Cabinet was in receipt of legal advice concerning the issue.

    “Cabinet noted recent public expressions regarding the formation of a company by Minister of Public Infrastructure, Post, Urban Development and Transport. Cabinet received legal advice on the matter and recorded its disappointment that certain elements within the society were attempting to make an issue where there was none. 

    “Cabinet reaffirmed its commitment to the highest level of ethical conduct and behaviour by members of the Cabinet and noted that not one scintilla of evidence has been provided to indicate that any member of the Cabinet had breached any ethical standard.”

    The release also stated that the Cabinet was the assurance that Minister Liburd’s company is not licensed to conduct business, neither has it engaged in any business, and in particular business which benefits from any contracts with the Government. 

    “The Cabinet is satisfied that Minister Liburd has done nothing illegal,” it added. 

    It further stated that the Minister has no intention to activate the business in question. 

    Taking a swing at former St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Government, the release read: “Cabinet cautioned that it was unhelpful for persons to engage in speculation and innuendo on a serious matter of good governance, and finally took note of the fact of its commitment to the electorate to avoid the clear conflict of interest situation that bedevilled the former Dr. Douglas-led Administration. 

    “In that regard, Cabinet considered the matter of the lease/rental of the Five Ways property by the former Prime Minister Dr. Douglas to the Taiwanese Embassy without open bidding or tender. Cabinet recalled too, its objection to the lease/rental of the house of Senator Nigel Carty to the former Commissioner of Police, C.G. Walwyn, and the introduction of a significant allowance to C.G. Walwyn to allow him to meet the rental cost to which Senator Carty was the ultimate beneficiary. 

    “Cabinet determined that these matters will be subjects of ventilation. Cabinet wishes to assure all citizens that it takes seriously the ethics and ethos of good governance.



     
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