Damion Mitchell and Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writers

Mayor of Lucea, Councillor Lester Crooks, in a militant mood at the emergency meeting called to discuss the Fiesta Hotel development in Point, Lucea, in this August 17, 2006 file photo. - Photo by Janet Silvera

The Local Government Ministry is reporting that the former Mayor of Lucea, Lester Crooks, led the move for the Hanover Parish Council to reduce the building fees for the Fiesta Hotel.

The revelation came one day after Mr. Crooks resigned from that position and also as chairman of the Hanover Parish Council because of a possible conflict with his role as mayor and as a trucking contractor with the hotel. The 1,600-room facility is now under construction in Point Estate in the parish.

It is understood that the hotel building fee was reduced from $56 million to $42 million.

Peart concerned

The Local Government Minister Dean Peart said that while the council had the power to waive the fees, he is concerned that the former mayor initiated the discussion for the discount.

"The parish council is saying to me that, in a meeting, the mayor said if they don't give the discount, they might lose the development, and based on that, the councillors agreed," Mr. Peart said. He was speaking yesterday on 'Independent Talk' on Power 106 FM.

At the same time, Opposition Spokesman on Information, Senator Dwight Nelson, insisted that consideration must be given to the fact that the other council members supported the proposal to reduce the building fees.

Request rejected

Meanwhile, the Local Government Minister has rejected a request by the Hanover Parish Council for the revenue from the Fiesta Hotel building fee to be disbursed to the respective parish council divisions in Hanover.

He said the revenue must be used to improve the service of offices of the parish council before attending to any other matter.

Yesterday, social commentator Reverend Garnet Roper described the Fiesta matter as a scandal, worse than Trafigura.

In another three to four weeks, auditors investigating numerous reported cases of impropriety at the Hanover Parish Council should complete their investigation.

The Local Government Minister said the former mayor is suspected of being involved in matters at the council which warrant investigation.

Vasca Brown, who has replaced Mr. Crooks as chairman of the Parish Council, told The Gleaner yesterday that he would convene a meeting to reimpose the stop order on the Fiesta Hotel if the developers failed to correct the nine breaches of their building permit.