Orville Taylor

Christmas came and went but there was no handover of power as predicted by Opposition Leader Bruce Golding. In fact, the only 'han'over' is the Hanover of scandalising to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

On Monday last, the Mayor of Lucea and Chairman of the Hanover Parish Council, Lester Crooks, resigned amid a sea of tears and controversy. According to some accounts, he had been instructed to do so by the hierarchy of the JLP. His vision is now unobscured, having washed out his eyes with good old 'eye wata' and he apparently understands that there was a clear conflict of interest in him having an arrangement with an organisation whose contract he approved as mayor.

Crooks, whose name has no more significance than mine as, I 'Taylor' my comments, had last year presided over a parish council decision to give a 25 per cent reduction of fees to the Fiesta Hotel Group, which is involved in a massive 1,600 room construction project in the parish. Doubtless, this is "contrary to the principles of transparency and good governance which the council is expected to uphold," as local government Minister Dean Peart asserts.

Crooks is cited as stating that he has had a big burden lifted from his shoulders. That may be so, but he has placed it squarely on those of his party leader, who must move his head a bit in order to shoulder it.

In the view of one of his colleague councillors, the contract that Crooks has with the hotel group may appear to be unethical, but "is not unlawful". The legality of the relationship is not an issue. However, the 'crux' of the matter is that there appears to be some deception here.

Several months ago, Golding opened a can of worms in bringing the shady dealings between beleaguered Dutch company, Trafigura Beheer and the ruling Peoples' National Party (PNP) to, the fore.

Popular opinion is that Crooks was a good mayor and he accomplished many things. After all, Lucea is indeed a clean town. I am sure that his supporters will find several good points regarding his tenures.

people's interest

Nevertheless, that is not instructive. Something was foul about the association between Fiesta and Crooks and it is more disturbing because he is a public official elected to protect the people's interest.

As with so many of the Spanish hotels that had been popping up with the frequency of pimples on the face of skin-bleaching adolescents, allegations of breaches had emerged and persisted.

A few weeks ago, construction on the hotel site was stopped by the council because of infractions of its building permit, which of course had been approved by the mayor's council. This was apparently sparked by a protest by construction workers who were demonstrating over the poor conditions of work.

Clearly not motivated by his own self-interest or that of Fiesta, he, along with some like-minded councillors, out-voted the dissenters two Thursdays ago, and construction was allowed to resume.

Having secured the continuity of the project, Crooks attempted to excuse himself due to his involvement with the company. Well better late than never, or is it?

similar projects

Last year, there was an impasse between the council and the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) over the tardiness in granting its approval. NEPA on several occasions has been accused of dropping balls on other similar projects.

NEPA has all the reasons to be concerned because hotel construction in that area could have such an impact on the crocodile population that many could take to the sea, living and hunting in the prime bathing area.

Nevertheless, as NEPA dug in its heels, Peart himself advised within 24 hours that the approval would have been granted, thus giving the impression that NEPA had nothing to drop. This makes me wonder: why did he feel the need to state that Crooks' 30-year-old company having a contract on a site was not unusual? After all, unlike the minister, I can understand why he would resign as mayor.

If the statements made by the other parish councillors are true, then Crooks kept his association with Fiesta secret. Such lack of disclosure would be deceptive, if not crooked. This glaring conflict of interest brings the council into disrepute. Moreover, while he might have been enjoying himself at the Fiesta, he obviously was not in the 'party'.

I am in complete agreement with the suggestion that all of his dealings with the hotel group while he was mayor must be revisited. Only time will tell what the audit reveals.

Still, one question that has preoccupied me is this: How come so many Labourites and PNP councillors, who suspected that he had been involved with Fiesta, had not done anything about it? If the PNP councillors were vigilant, given the suspicions that Crooks' Spanish dealings were as secret as the ingredient in a notorious similarly named potion, why did they not ring the alarm? Why did it have to wait until it was revealed in the council?

It is unimaginable that none of them 'knew' or even had the presence of mind to ask. What of his colleagues in his party? Were they also ignorant or simply naïve? Even more, did they know and were complicit in keeping it hidden like Spanish treasure?

Whichever way, I am not convinced that the interest of the public has been served.

Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.