Commentary

 Notwithstanding Mr Everald Warmington's seeming proclivity for spewing invectives at those with whom he is at odds, we presume as sincere his apology to the contractor general, Mr Greg Christie, the most recent public victim of the MP's venom.

Indeed, Mr Christie has himself accepted Mr Warmington's withdrawal of his characterisation of the CG as an "overzealous idiot" and a "mental case" and the explanation that the remarks were made "in the heat of the moment".

That moment, of course, was Mr Christie's announcement of an investigation into contracts, worth many millions of dollars, that have been awarded in recent years by the St Catherine Parish Council to Strathairn Construction Company, of which Mr Warmington used to be a director and in which, it is alleged, he has, or had, beneficial interest.

Escaping scrutiny

The parish council, the contractor general said, apparently carved up the contracts into smaller bits so as to escape the scrutiny of the National Contracts Commission. Further, much of the work was in Mr Warmington's parliamentary constituency of St Catherine South Western.

Members of Mr Warmington's family, according to the allegations, joined Strathairn's board when, in September 2007, he stopped being a director of the firm, which shares, or used to share, an address with the MP's constituency office.

None of this, of course, proves that the contracts were not won fairly, rather than, as has been suggested, influenced by Mr Warmington.

Accusations of corruption

The accusations of corruption, including kickbacks to parish council official(s) are grave. But they are of particular concern when levelled against a public official like Mr Warmington, who is not only a parliamentarian, but is a minister of state in the water and housing ministry, charged with protecting public resources.

Clearly, Mr Warmington is innocent until proven otherwise. There is no constitutional basis for any action against him, at this point, at the parliamentary level.

However, ministers should enjoy the full trust of the public that they are firm guardians of the state's resources. That is why we would suggest to Mr Warmington that he step aside from his ministerial post until the Office of the Contractor General completes its investigation. If he refuses, Prime Minister Bruce Golding should remove him.

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