Dawn Ritch, ContributorMark Wignall has pulled off a journalistic coup d'etat that I greatly admire. What a commotion!
Ronnie Thwaites was in the bosom of the Government, the Roman Catholic Church, the media, and Jamaican poor people. By unmasking him in two areas, Mark has set the stage for a necessary review of his other legal activities.
Some Roman Catholic lawyers seem inclined to argue that in the matter of the US$370,000 loan to Thwaites collateralised by part of a dead woman's estate, the former Member of Parliament did nothing wrong. One said to me there was "...nothing illegal, immoral nor unethical. It was an arm's length transaction".
They maintain, however, that the Church was ill-advised to get involved with it. This makes it purely a matter, they argue, which is internal to the Church. Since the property had been left by the deceased to the Roman Catholic Church, the Archbishop was legally, morally and ethically able to have it used as collateral by Deacon Thwaites.
What this argument completely ignores, however, is that Thwaites was one of two executors of the deceased woman's will, which made him a trustee of her estate. He is therefore operating on behalf of the deceased and cannot use the deceased's property to benefit himself unless it is so specified in the will. That would be an abuse of trust.
The deceased wanted the property in question used as a retirement home for Roman Catholic priests. Thwaites does not qualify for consideration under the terms of the will, as reported in this newspaper. I hope therefore that the Bar Council has taken note of this case, and that it will make a ruling on the matter before it gets too long in the tooth.
Abe Dabdoub, JLP Member of Parliament for North East St. Catherine, was however, quick off the mark. As soon as Thwaites resigned as PNP MP for Central Kingston, Dabdoub tabled a private member's motion in the House of Representatives. It reads as follows:-
"WHEREAS the Member of Parliament for Central Kingston has taken the unprecedented action to resign from This Honourable House as a result of allegations of impropriety
AND WHEREAS he had requested and obtained the approval of This Honourable House to enter into contractual arrangements with the Government of Jamaica
AND WHEREAS his law firm or himself entered into contractual arrangements with the Government
BE IT RESOLVED that This Honourable House calls on the Government of Jamaica to table a report detailing all transactions entered into between the said former Member of Parliament or his law firm and the Government of Jamaica or any of its agencies.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Honourable House calls on the Prime Minister to conduct a full and complete investigation into all transactions between the said former Member of Parliament and the Postal Corporation of Jamaica Limited and to table in This Honourable House a report of the findings of such investigation."
A number of questions were also tabled that same day by Andrew Holness, JLP MP for West Central St. Andrew, relating to Thwaites dealings with "Operation Pride". The sixth and penultimate question is as follows:
"Will the Minister furnish details on how much money, if any, is being held by the Law firm Daly, Thwaites & Co. or by Ronald Thwaites Attorney-at-Law on behalf of:
(a) the Government of Jamaica;
(b) any agency of the Government of Jamaica;
(c) any of the provident societies, and
(d) as deposits or payments on account purchase price paid by any purchaser or beneficiary under the Operation Pride projects being handled by that Law Firm or that Attorney-at-Law?"
The Opposition seems to be concerned that Thwaites may be acting on behalf of Provident Societies, and collecting money from them. These are vehicles, the formation of which was encouraged by the former Minister of Housing Dr. Karl Blythe, in the Operation PRIDE/NHDC massive cost-over-run scandal. Between his being a corporation sole as Minister of Housing, and provident societies not having to go to public tender on contracts, billions of dollars of taxpayer money was given to favoured PNP contractors and wasted.
Readers will remember that in one particular Operation PRIDE scandal scheme, Thwaites' law firm was paid twice for the same job. Thwaites subsequently claimed to have repaid it, but this has not been confirmed. This is not unlike the $5 million which was lodged to Thwaites' account but which belonged to the Postal Corporation of Jamaica, and which it is said, was subsequently paid back in two tranches without interest. It is only right and proper therefore that the Auditor-General has now been asked to investigate this matter.
It appears further that Thwaites may also have acted as the Government's agent, encouraging squatters of varying socio-economic backgrounds to regularise themselves by forming provident societies. Thwaites had previously enjoyed an untarnished reputation for trust-worthiness, particularly among Jamaica's poor people. There was a legal fee for registering and getting the societies going, and another fee for making mortgages available through the NHDC.
In a case in Clarendon it seems that following the formation of a provident society, two different sets of people were trying to collect mortgages from the same set of squatters. Nor were the first set prepared to transfer any receipts to the second set which had actually built the scheme. The sum involved is about $14 1/2 million, and the developer is threatening to bulldoze the scheme.
In some Operation PRIDE schemes in St. James, complaints are being expressed by squatters about signing papers that should lead to certificates of possession, but instead lead to mortgages the terms of which they're only told after signing. One of them is on a hillside really fit only for goats, but being charged at a rate per square foot only slightly less than what applies in the upscale Ironshore.
Dabdoub is right therefore to call for the Government to table a report detailing all transactions entered into, because the matter needs to be laid to rest. At a time when our Prime Minister wants to be known as the man who gave away the most land to the most people, it would be just too awful if poor people were taken advantage of in any way by what some are calling "sharp practice artistry".
This thing looks like a big, fat ball of twine. Mark tugged at the string. The Government has a duty to continue pulling at it no matter where, or to whom, it leads.
