Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

( L - R ) Ying, Lewis

Ambassador Donald Rainford, Jamaica's former Ambassador to Belgium and the European Economic Community, was yesterday announced as the new chairman of the controversial Public Service Commission (PSC).

Governor-General Sir Kenneth Hall, acting on behalf of Prime Minister Bruce Golding, also announced four other appointments to the PSC.

Other appointees

They are Merlyn Brown, former adviser of the Citizen's Charter Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister; Professor Neville Ying, executive director of the Mona School of Business; Herbert Lewis, former president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation; and, Audrey Menzie Hastings, a past honorary secretary of the Jamaica Civil Service Association and retired civil servant of the Ministry of Education.

A release from King's House said the appointment of the new members was done in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, Portia Simpson Miller.

Fired for misconduct

The new members replace Daisy Coke, Michael Fennell, Edwin Jones, Pauline Findlay and Alfred Sangster, who were in December, fired from the PSC, on the basis of misconduct.

The Government and the PSC have been at loggerheads since the PSC recommended the appointment of Professor Stephen Vasciannie as the new Solicitor General.

In December, Mrs. Simpson Simpson Miller took Mr. Golding to court over his recommendation to the Governor-General that the members of the PSC to be removed from office.

Mrs. Simpson Miller contended that the Prime Minister had breached the rules of natural justice by denying the PSC members a fair hearing before making the recommendation to remove them from office.

A court date has been set for tomorrow for a judicial review of Mr. Golding's decision to fire the PSC members.

Recommended by parties

There have been concerns that the appointment of the new members was done along political lines.

Senator Dwight Nelson, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, said all members of the PSC are usually recommended by a political party.

He said the new members, who have had years of service in the public sector, are quite capable of the task that they have been given.

"These men and women have served Jamaica dutifully during the course of their political career and I challenge anyone to question the integrity of these persons," Senator Nelson told The Gleaner yesterday.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com