Campbell and PaulwellINFORMATION Minister Colin Campbell, has brushed aside speculation that his colleague Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology Phillip Paulwell, was about to tender his resignation, even as influential Jamaicans kept up their call for him to do so.
Talk of an imminent resignation has swept the country since the revelation late last week that NetServ, the information technology company in which Government had pumped more than $180 million had collapsed and was placed into receivership.
"We (the Government) are solidly behind him," Campbell told The Gleaner on Sunday. "His performance is unequalled in Jamaica's political history," he added. The Information Minister pointed to the US$100 million that was earned from the sale of two cellular licences and argued that only US$10 million was set aside in the Intech Fund as a re-investment in the sector in a bid to create 40,000 jobs over three years. He charged that no corruption was involved.
Campbell also sought to absolve the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) and its head Rex James, of blame. "From my review of the files NIBJ carried out its work (properly). Everything I have seen show that the NIBJ exercised its fiduciary responsibility".
According to Campbell, the country's investment had been protected and it was "not likely that that money will go down the drain". The money he said was spent on equipment and in the setting up of the facility.
Paulwell along with Campbell, a former State Minister in the Industry, Commerce and Technology until a Cabinet reshuffle in October, and representatives of the NIBJ, JAMPRO and HEART Trust/NTA were summoned by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to a meeting at Jamaica House Saturday.
Paulwell has been instructed to prepare to answer questions on the matter in Parliament today. He will explain the Government's side in a Ministry Paper to be tabled in the House. The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is insisting however that the Minister make a statement that would allow some kind of debate on the matter.
Despite the open show of support for Paulwell, party insiders claim he is not likely to survive. He is seen as a liability for the governing People's National Party (PNP) in the run up to General Elections.
And there are many on the outside who think he should go.
"On the basis of what has been made public so far I think the appropriate thing for him to do is to resign," Bruce Golding, former President of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) said yesterday.
He added: "I think any minister under whose watch the kind of errors of judgement that were evidently displayed in the NetServ and Jamaica Call Centre fiasco occur, I think he ought to step down no question about it".
ETHOS OF ACCOUNTABILITY
Golding who walked out of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in 1995 to form the NDM over differences with the operational style of the party hierarchy, said it was time "we begin to establish an ethos of accountability in Jamaica - we don't have that up to now".
The former NDM head noted that the PNP and the Prime Minister are in a ticklish position -- "short on political capital" and would do anything to save any further loss of political image. "I think if it was a situation where the PNP was riding high I'm sure they would ride it out (but) however loyal the Prime Minister may be to Phillip Paulwell I think he's more loyal to himself".
Lambert Brown, vice-president of the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) had a similar view.
"I think it's in his best interest, his party's interest and the nation's interest that accountability not only seems to be done but appears to be done," he remarked. "I think in light of that that it is best for everybody, myself included that he should resign," he continued".
According to the UAWU representative, a resignation would not necessarily mean that he was guilty of anything, but it was necessary on the principle of accountability.
University of the West Indies Professor Barry Chevennes while cautious in his response said "it looks bad". "And I'm going by what I've seen in The Gleaner," he added. "The fact that the Prime Minister has summoned him (to Jamaica House) would indicate to me that it is sufficiently serious a matter and a little scandal to warrant the intervention of the Prime Minister".
On Thursday Opposition Leader Edward Seaga called for the resignation of both Minister Paulwell and Rex James over the "scandalous distribution" of the $180 million to NetServ.
"The handling of the Information Technology portfolio by Minister Phillip Paulwell has created scandal after scandal which is severely damaging the future prospects of development in this vital sector," Seaga said.
NetServ began operations in June this year, after being granted a $180 million loan from the Government with the understanding that it would create 3,000 jobs in the first year and 10,000 within three years. However, it failed to meet the target, employing just 209 persons at the time it was placed in receivership. JAMPRO admitted Friday that other companies in the sector who were granted Government loans were facing difficulty.
