LAWYERS FOR former water and housing minister, Dr. Karl Blythe, say they have filed defamation suits in the Supreme Court against members of a government-appointed committee, which reported that Blythe was guilty of meddling in the operation of a state housing agency.
Prime Minister P. J. Patterson appointed the committee, led by former civil servant Erwin Angus in February 2002, to investigate allegations of corruption in the administration of Operation PRIDE, a government-run shelter programme.
The report of the committee, which included Robert Martin, Noel Levy and Carlton Depass, resulted in the director of public prosecutions charging some of the officials and contractors involved in the programme.
REQUESTED PUBLIC APOLOGY
Blythe, who resigned from the Cabinet to allow the investigations to proceed, has consistently maintained that he was maligned by the committee findings and has requested a public apology. His insistence on an apology was buttressed by the findings of former Solicitor General Dr. Kenneth Rattray that Blythe had acted within the scope of his authority.
"It is most regrettable that Erwin Angus, Robert Martin, Noel Levy and Carlton Depass did not see the wisdom in apologising for what is well accepted as a flawed report submitted by them, resulting in serious damages to our client Dr. Karl Blythe," said attorney-at-law Antonnette Haughton-Cardenas, in a press statement.
