Devon Dick

Kevin O'Brien Chang in his article on Sunday , titled 'Fairy godmothers, sheep and goats' likened me to a 'goat' and attempted to curry me as some political hack. He said, 'Our clergymen in print - Ian Boyne, Garnet Roper, Devon Dick, Henley Morgan, Michael Burke and Peter Espeut - certainly seem more like comrades at mass. Trafigura was to them about campaign finance and banking secrecy, not corruption. But then, we would expect advisory council members to defend their party and speech writers to back their clients.'

Sweeping statements

Chang analysed the positions of at least 50 persons in media and showed who were sheep and goats. He ought to be commended for reading so widely. However, he seemed unable to digest properly what he read and made sweeping unsubstantiated statements. Perhaps he did not read or forgot what I said.

On October 10, I wrote, 'The resignation of a Cabinet minister begs the questions: Was it abuse of state funds? Did he use party funds for personal gain? These actions constitute criminal activities. The law will need to take its course.

"To what extent were the officers of the PNP aware of the income and expenditures? What about the other PNP leaders who stoutly defended this gift/commercial transaction, what did they know and when? The PNP needs to give more answers. There needs to be a thorough independent enquiry to answer some of the other questions asked by civil society."

I called for an enquiry and stated that the law should take its course! One PNP activist was vehemently opposed to such criticism of the PNP and made it known to me. Can Chang's allegation against me stand? How he arrived at his conclusion is baffling.

As to his mention of speechwriters backing their clients, implying that 'clergymen in print' as he named, are speechwriters, I challenge Chang to produce an invoice, dummy or real, which purports that I was paid for speech writing services.

What does 'advisory council members' mean? I will advise Chang that as a responsible citizen, I have served on several boards and committees. Also, I have made my opinions known as to the direction the country should take.

But my suggestions are not restricted to the PNP. The Leader of Opposition, Bruce Golding invited me, along with other journalists and columnists, to a breakfast meeting where he outlined his reasons for taking the West Kingston seat. I gave him my opinion, which he did not heed. Nevertheless, Golding is the only politician who recently wrote me a letter congratulating my daughter on her performance in the CXC examinations.

Passing judgement

I have been writing articles since 1990 giving my fair opinion, not being judgemental especially when an issue is under investigation, but Chang is willing to pass judgement on me without properly understanding what he has read and based on my not seeing Trafigura his way.

It still seems that breaching the Banking Act was unlawful and unnecessary. Also, accepting money by means of false documentation is wrong.

Martin Luther King said if you break an unjust law, then you must suffer the consequences of that action in order to highlight the iniquitous law. Furthermore, there are banking systems in place to deal with Trafigura. The bank involved should reveal what it did when it was aware of these transactions. Chang should leave the separation of sheep and goats to God.

Rev. Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building'.