Charge him - CG...the 'him' being Colin Campbell

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Charge him - CG
Published: Tuesday | August 24, 2010

Contractor General Greg Christie is recommending that criminal charges be laid against former People's National Party (PNP) government minister Colin Campbell, in what could be a major setback in his desire to return to representational politics.

Christie, who says he has been unable to determine whether there was any corruption involved in the collection of $31 million from the Dutch oil-trading firm in the 2006 Trafigura Beheer scandal, said Campbell, a former PNP general secretary, refused to assist the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) in its investigation into the matter.

In his report into the Trafigura affair, obtained by The Gleaner yesterday, Christie recommended that the document be referred to the director of public prosecutions as <span style="font-weight: bold">there is evidence that &quot;Colin Campbell has committed a criminal offence or offences under Section 29 (b) of the Contractor General Act by failing, without lawful justification or excuse to comply with a lawful requirement of a contractor general and/or by withholding critical information from the contractor general&quot;.</span>

The charge carries a penalty of $5,000 or a year in prison.

Burchell Whiteman, a member of the PNP's integrity commission, told The Gleaner yesterday that the report would have to be brought before that body if Campbell is to be selected as a candidate.

&quot;A matter of that kind will come before the integrity commission,&quot; Whiteman said. Campbell left active politics under a cloud in 2006, after it was revealed that monies were paid into one of his bank accounts by the Dutch firm. But on Sunday, he declared his intention to make a Gordon House comeback by way of North Central Clarendon, which is now represented by the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Pearnel Charles.

Before he can get the go-ahead to challenge on a PNP ticket, Campbell,<span style="font-weight: bold"> like other candidates, must be vetted and approved by the party's integrity commission</span>.

Not worried

But yesterday, Campbell said he was not worried that the content of the contractor general's report would retard his return to representational politics.

&quot;That report has nothing to do with me. That report has to deal with the investigation into the PCJ oil-lifting contract,&quot; Campbell told The Gleaner earlier in the day before details of the document were known.

But in addition to the propriety of the procurement process involving the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and Trafigura, the OCG investigation focused on whether there was a link between the money which was allegedly paid by Trafigura to the Colin Campbell Our Candidate (CCOC) Association, and the award and/or prospective award of any government contract to Trafigura; and whether, in consequence, there was any evidence of any form of corruption.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Meanwhile, Campbell said he was confident of winning the party's nod of approval</span> to contest the seat, even while adding that the work he has done in organising the seat would benefit the PNP.

&quot;When I went there, I did not go there as a candidate. I went there to help to organise the constituency so that was my primary thing,&quot; Campbell told The Gleaner.

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Re: Charge him - CG...the 'him' being Colin Campbell

A high price to pay for integrity

Heart to Heart

with Betty-Ann Blaine


Tuesday, August 24, 2010





Dear Reader,

Let no one fool you.The battle lines are drawn, and the enemy is a one-man anti-corruption army named Greg Christie. As far as we can see, the locus of the Golding administration's attention at the moment is not the IMF, the G20, or perhaps even &quot;Dudusgate&quot;. The locus of its attention is the office of the contractor general and it is clear that the intention is to inflict serious bodily wounds to the person of Greg Christie, the contractor general and the one man who has come to represent the symbol of integrity for an entire nation.


Ever since Greg Christie assumed office and placed his no-nonsense, impartial, anti-corruption stamp on the Office of the Contractor General, his life and that of the entity he represents have never been the same. Determined to carry out his duties in the most diligent and thorough manner possible, and without fear or favour, Christie, perhaps unwittingly at the time, set himself up as a marked man. He may not have realised it at first, but it didn't take long for Christie to discover the kind of potent political forces he was up against, and the lengths to which those threatened by scrutiny and exposure would go to silence him.

I was privileged to have had a face-to-face interview with Greg Christie about four years ago for a piece for a column, &quot;A few good men&quot;. At that time access to the CG's office was fairly easy - no dogs, no armed guards, and no significant security barriers to his office. I was amazed to see that in the space of a few years, Christie has become a &quot;sequestered&quot; man, operating behind layers of barricades and protected around the clock by assorted security detail.

I am not sure if Jamaicans fully appreciate the sacrifice that Greg Christie is paying for standing up for the people of Jamaica and for protecting those systems and procedures designed to ensure the proper dispensing of taxpayers' money. I'm aware that Christie's personal freedom and that of his family members have been significantly curtailed by the intimidation and death threats that have been issued against him and his department.

Christie's sacrifice is especially honourable in light of the circumstances that brought him to the position of contractor general. As a brilliant young lawyer, Christie could easily have remained in the United States, and like so many Jamaicans, pursued a comfortable, hassle-free life. He chose instead to return home to serve his country.

It was the former Governor General Sir Howard Cooke who met with Christie in the United States and invited him to take up the position of contactor general. Christie told me in the interview that he was impressed with the GG's reasoning and passion, but most of all with the idea of serving his country. He accepted the position with enthusiasm and with high ideals.

I'm not sure that even the GG-cum head hunter knew the calibre of man he had recruited. The day that Christie settled behind his desk and began working, the office of the contractor general would undergo a virtual metamorphosis, and Greg Christie would become a shining light of integrity for all to see.

Christie made it clear to everyone what his mandate was. He reminded us that &quot;a contractor general is an independent anti-corruption commission of the Parliament of Jamaica, who is sworn to discharge his mandate under the Contractor General Act solely on behalf of Parliament.&quot; By extension, this means that a contractor general is mandated by law to discharge his mandate solely on behalf of, and solely in the interests of the people and taxpayers of Jamaica. &quot;In the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by this Act, a contractor general shall not be subject to the directions or control of any other person or authority&quot;.

He continued, &quot;As contractor general, I have always discharged my statutory mandate and responsibilities lawfully, independently, faithfully, fairly and fearlessly, for and on behalf of the people of Jamaica. All of my decisions and pronouncements as contractor general, over the past four and one-half years, are considered positions which have been measured solely by this standard. For good reason, they have all been articulated in written form and have been adequately substantiated by documented evidence, and I will not resile from any of them.&quot;

The latest personal attack on Christie by MP for South West St Catherine, Everald Warmington, in which he described the CG as an &quot;overzealous idiot&quot;, is a continuum in a bi-partisan conspiracy to shut up and shut down Greg Christie. Since both PNP and JLP governments have been unable to challenge Christie's performance, the strategy has been to utilise their deadly weapons of character assassination in order to make him appear to be a &quot;crazed&quot; and irrational man.

But it hasn't worked. The problem that both the PNP and JLP have is that Greg Christie has earned the respect and support of the Jamaican people despite the efforts to undermine and immobilise him and his office, so that attempts to crucify Christie continue to backfire.

I say to Jamaica, let us throw our full support behind Greg Christie and do our part to help stamp out the corruption in the system.

With love,

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