Leonardo Blair, Enterprise Reporter Private - "It couldn't come from any other source," says Davies
All Family money says Blythe
Good volunteerism say Team Portia
'Solid as a Rock with private money' say Phillips' camp
AMID SWIRLING allegations of misuse of public funds for campaign purposes, all four candidates jockeying for the leadership post of the People's National Party (PNP) ahead of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson's resignation next month, have declared their campaigns above reproach.
At least one candidate, Dr. Karl Blythe, former Water and Housing Minister, says his sure-fire campaign is entirely family funded on a daily budget of $30,000 to $40,000. In January alone, Dr. Blythe would have spent between $480,000 and $640,000 on his door-to-door campaign.
"My campaign so far has been funded by my family and myself. I am out there at least four days a week on a budget of $30,000 to $40,000 a day," says Blythe. "If you noticed, I have not concerned myself with the big launches like the others. I am going door to door. We are coming down to the wire and I think my strength is very good. I will be Prime Minister."
BENEVOLENCE AND VOLUNTEERISM
Easton Douglas, campaign chairman for the 'Team Portia' effort, said Mrs. Simpson Miller's campaign was being buoyed by the benevolence and volunteerism of delegates and business people in support of the lone woman in the political pack. "What I can tell you is that the little funding we have been getting is strictly from friends and supporters.
"We have had to be very frugal and we have complete accountability for the funds that we get," says Douglas.
"We have a lot of volunteerism. There are delegates and supporters of the PNP who have gone into their own pockets, used their own vehicles. Our candidate has made it quite clear that she is not going out there to beg anybody funds as she does not want to be obliged to anyone after the campaign," Douglas points out.
While admitting that she could not reveal the details of the funding behind Security Minister Peter Phillips' campaign, Maxine Henry-Wilson, Education Minister and manager of Phillips' 'Solid as a Rock Campaign', said: "I can assure you that every single dollar of it is from
personal and private sector funding."
About the source of funding for his 'Campaign for Prosperity', Finance Minister Omar Davies brusquely dismissed transparency questions.
"All private individuals and some companies. It could not have come from any other source."
Just last week, allegations of misuse of public money to fund the campaigns of two of the contenders, Dr. Peter Phillips, National Security Minister and Portia Simpson Miller, Local Government Minister, forced the announcement of an investigation into the allegations by Auditor General Adrian Strachan, who said he could not promise a public announcement of his findings and would only be reporting to Parliament.
INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGATIONS
Audley Shaw, Opposition Spokesman on Finance and chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee last week called on the Auditor General to carry out an immediate investigation into the allegations against both candidates. In a statement, he said that the Auditor General "has a professional duty and responsi-bility to immediately investigate these very serious allegations which, if found to be true, would represent a new level of corruption in governance in the country, which cannot be tolerated."
In a report submitted by Team Portia, and signed by deputy campaign manager Paul Burke, to PNP General Secretary Burchell Whiteman at the party's National Executive Council conference last Sunday, Mrs. Simpson Miller's campaign team called for an investigation into questions about the misuse of funds from the Ministry of National Security. Hot on the heels of that request, last Monday, Mr. Shaw alleged that money from the Local Government Ministry's Road Maintenance Fund had been similarly abused.
In a full-page advertisement last Friday, however, the Min-istry of Local Government sought to dismiss the allegation.
"To set the record straight, it must be noted that the ministry does not operate a road maintenance fund. However, the ministry has oversight responsibility for the disbursement of funds for road rehabilitation from the Parochial Revenue Fund (PRF), which is the sole dedicated source of funding for road rehabilitation for the local authorities.
"... No disbursement can be made from the PRF without the expressed knowledge of the local authorities."
