Letter: Above the Law or Contempt of the Law?

The new discoveries concerning the Guanapo Church reveal as much of its patron as it does of the supporting bureaucracy within which we function.

From public statements made by the new PM, the land was never formally transferred and the building activities had been grandly proceeding with utter disregard for statutory requirements of every shade.

A $30 million project was manifesting miraculously and the sole identifiable patron from first grant to eventual anticipated grandeur was the saintly born again Mr. Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning.

The land was changed from agricultural classification, recovered from an earlier tenant by what now appears to have been coercive means, building plans seemingly pirated from the official PM’s residence project, architect inveigled into pro bono service, contractor appointed to design, build and deliver for free a turnkey institution, without the formality of land ownership transfer, nor of planning and building approval.

As PM Mr. Manning earlier explained, cutting corners for greater efficiency was always desirable - hence UDeCOTT under Calder Hart.

The Prophetess has left no paper trail bearing her signature. But her disciple has openly declared her exalted status.

Our Integrity Laws appear to have been compromised both by the patron of the Church Project as well as by the SPSE appointed to accomplish the project at no cost to the beneficiaries of the Church.

Apart from travel allowances that may have been provided by our foreign embassies, the Prophetess appears to have had a Fairy Godfather who facilitated the project from what could only have been state funds and resources.

Whatever his intentions, Mr. Manning functioned as an absolute autocrat accounting to no one, and with the assurance of personal ownership of state resources.

He either held himself above the Law, or stood in complete contempt of it.

And throughout all of this he has offered no admission of culpability or apology for his misfeasance in public office. One can wonder whether the Landgate developers had a similar view of state property and see no wrong in their behaviour.

Mr. Manning’s successor in party leadership trumpets as fearlessly as his former Captain, accusing without pause. To what extent does he emulate his predecessor?

The PP government has a duty to prosecute public officials who have breached the national trust, including cooperating officers who facilitated the breaches of law. They must not be swayed by appeals to mercy and forgiveness nor even by pragmatic appeals to start afresh.

The carcass and its stench must be removed from the atmosphere. The scoundrels must be interned and their acts of betrayal of the public trust interred and sealed never to rise again.

How the PNM can expect to be trusted in public office ever again after years of serial corruption and scandals is difficult to comprehend.

Hopefully an aware public will reject the PNM even more convincingly at the Local Government polls.

M.F. Rahman.