Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator

The Privileges Committee of Parliament will meet next week to determine sanctions against Member of Parliament for North Central St. Andrew, Karl Samuda, for "deliberately misleading" the House of Representatives, when he charged that the controversial Noel Hylton Report on the Sandals Whitehouse project was submitted to former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and the Cabinet.

Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the Privileges Committee, Michael Peart, said the MP could escape punishment if he acknowledged that his pronouncement was inaccurate and retract the statement.

"Ideally you don't want to go into the matter of suspending a member," said Mr. Peart, noting that he has had discussions last week with Mr. Samuda on the matter.

However, Mr. Samuda remains defiant, unperturbed by pending action.

Debating a no-confidence motion against the Portia Simpson Miller-led administration in the House on Tuesday, which was defeated in a vote by government MPs, Mr. Samuda commented on the censure motion moved against him: "Mr. Speaker you and I know we have spoken and a censure motion against me means nothing, it's like fly 'pon' cow".

"Even if you expel me for the rest of the short period left I will be returning to the House," the MP for North Central St. Andrew declared.

The Privileges Committee comprises nine members including the chairman. There are four Government members and a similar number from the Opposition side.

Mr. Peart argued that it has been clearly established that the report done by Hylton was not presented to the former Prime Minister or Cabinet. In this regard, he insisted that the member should withdraw his previous assertions.

A censure motion brought against Mr. Samuda by then Government backbencher, now Information and Development Minister, Donald Buchanan, was carried, after Opposition MPs walked out of Parliament following a failed attempt by Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, to disclose information on the Trafigura Beheer affair on the floor of the chamber. The Speaker prevented Mr. Golding from speaking on the issue, noting that it had no relevance to the censure motion.

In the absence of the Opposition, Government members referred the matter to the Privileges Committee to deliberate on the judgement that should be handed down.

The Privileges Committee has the option of expelling or suspending Mr. Samuda from the House for his parliamentary breach, but Mr. Peart indicated that the former would not apply in this case.