Ennis rapped, praised By Lynford Simpson,
Staff Reporter
ERROL ENNIS, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, was yesterday both chastised and praised by fellow politicians and leading public figures for his decision to resign from his ministerial position. But it was only chastisement for his less than discreet behaviour which led to the resignation, his gambling debts which he tried to settle with a number of cheques that bounced, and which was made public in The Sunday Gleaner. His letter of resignation which was received by Deputy Prime Minister Seymour Mullings yesterday, said the action which was taken with immediate effect "arises from the fact that my bankers did not negotiate seven cheques which I issued in late December 2000 and in January 2001...". It explained that the total amount involved was $82,000 which was settled in full in March. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) through its "spokesman on anti-corruption" Aundre Franklin, was scathing in his criticism of the circumstances that led to the minister's resignation. He accused both Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who is off the island, and Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies of concealing the matter for six weeks before it came to light in The Sunday Gleaner. "It's the honourable thing for him to do given the revelations that have come out so far," Wayne Chen, former vice-president of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) said yesterday. According to Chen, it sets a good example not only for somebody at Cabinet level but for other leaders in other aspects of Jamaican life. Meantime, the PNP through its youth arm praised Ennis for "taking responsibility for his indiscretion." According to James Samuels, President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), the minister's resignation "represents a new dawn in the country's (political) history since it is not the done thing in Jamaican politics." He noted that the resignation was the correct thing to do, and should become the norm for public figures who assume responsibilities of national trust but who "do things that are seriously embarrassing". Samuels said his hope was that the action by Ennis was demonstrative of a thinking and behaviour that will emerge that people take responsibility for their actions. Meantime, the PNP through its youth arm praised Ennis for "taking responsibility for his indiscretion".
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