- Winston SillThe Fair Trading Commission's Executive Director A.B. Stewart Stephenson, right, holds the attention of Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, left, and Jasper Burnett, FTC commissioner, during yesterday's launch of the "Shirley Playfair Lecture Series" at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter
THE FAIR Trading Commission (FTC) yesterday held the first in a series of lectures in honour of its former chairman and prominent attorney, Shirley Playfair, who was killed at her office earlier this year.
Yesterday's lecture, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, took the form of a judges seminar. Dr. Patrick McNutt, research associate at the University of Dublin in Ireland, delivered a paper titled: "Market Definition, Dominance and Abuse of Dominance".
Several representatives of the judiciary; the Attorney-General's Department; and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, braved heavy rains to attend yesterday's event.
The lecture was closed to the media and the public. However, subsequent lectures will be delivered publicly and will focus on competition law and policy.That lectures will be addressed by prominent or international speakers.
In launching the series, long-time friend of Mrs. Playfair and acting chairman of the FTC, Senator Aloun N'Dombet-Assamba, noted that the idea of a judges seminar was the brainchild of Mrs. Playfair, who saw the need to expose the judiciary to recent developments in competition law.
"Regrettably, Shirley was unable to participate in the hosting of this seminar which had originally been planned for last year, but had to be postponed," she said.
Mrs. Playfair's throat was slashed while she was having lunch at her office at Seymour Avenue, Kingston 6 on April 13. The police apprehended three men shortly after the killing. The accused are now before the court. An employee of Mrs. Playfair has also been implicated in the murder.
Senator N'Dombet-Assamba said that following the death of Mrs. Playfair, the FTC received suggestions from a number of international agencies to honour the life and work of the former chairman.
After discussions among FTC directors, Senator N'Dombet-Assamba said, a decision was taken to host the annual lecture series, called the "Shirley Playfair Lecture Series".
She further noted that in light of the planned judges seminar, the directors felt that twin objectives could have been achieved by having yesterday's lecture as part of the seminar.
"Although we can never recover from the loss of our former chairman, her passing has re-energised our resolve to pursue our mandate of promoting competition in the market place," Senator N'Dombet-Assamba said.
