Tyrone Reid, Enterprise Reporter

GREENE

Once again the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) has been thrown into a hotbed of controversy, as the executive agency is rocked by allegations of mismanagement, wanton spending and corruption.

The board of the beleaguered garbage collection agency, which is responsible for the collection and disposal of residential garbage, yesterday called in the Fraud Squad to investigate the wanton spending of about $20 million in less than a year, sources told The Gleaner.

Auditors called in

Auditors have also been called in to comb through the agency's books that contain information on activities from Kingston to Montego Bay, as there are allegations that most of the alleged impropriety took place out west.

Highly placed sources said that the company's executive director, Errol Greene, who is on vacation leave, was called into an emergency meeting at the Ministry of Local Government and Environment yesterday morning, after he returned from Europe Sunday.

The sources also said that four persons, including a junior government minister, are under police protection as a result of the tense nature of the unfolding situation.

Dean Peart, Minister of Local Government and Environment, confirmed that the meeting took place. However, he refused to provide details. He referred the news team to chairperson, Ethlyn Norton-Coke. But efforts last night to contact Mrs. Norton-Coke were unsuccessful.

However, when quizzed on whether Mr. Greene was fired, Minister Peart said: "Mr. Greene was on leave and he continues on leave."

When contacted, Mr. Greene was mum on the matter. "I have no comment at all to make on the matter, speak to the chairman," he declared.

When quizzed on whether police had to escort him from the Ministry's building, Mr. Greene insisted that the newsroom speak to Mrs. Norton-Coke.

This is not the first time Mr. Greene, who was brought in to restore the tainted image of the garbage collection agency, has had a run in with the Board since he took up the gauntlet at the agency in June last year.

In August this year, Mrs. Norton-Coke placed a ban on the engagement of external legal services by the agency. Her directive came after it was revealed that Mr. Greene had contracted the services of a law firm, without approval of the board. The sum of the contract was not divulged. At that time, Mr. Greene said that the law firm had already undertaken some of the work and that he told the board that he did not have a difficulty paying them out of his pocket.

However, a senior government official told The Gleaner that harsh words were exchanged at the meeting which came to an abrupt end.

The senior government official argued that the Portia Simpson Miller-led administration is ushering in a new dispensation in dealing with persons who abuse the public purse. "The aim is not just to fire them (but) for them to be charged. We are going to bring them to courtÉwe need convictions of public officials," the official stressed.

The agency entered the public spotlight last year March with revelations, first reported by The Sunday Gleaner, of irregularities and mismanagement at the waste disposal agency. These allegations were later substantiated by investigations carried out by the Contractor General and Auditor-General. These probes were ordered by then Local Government Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who is now Prime Minister. Following the report of the findings, the Alston Stewart-led board resigned en bloc.

In April of this year, news of contractual irregularities at the NSWMA-led the board to give the Errol Greene-led management team 60 days to correct the breaches in protocol. It was reported then that $40 million had been spent without the board's approval.