IC cracks whip on three councillors
Published:Wednesday | June 11, 2025 | 12:13 AM
The acting director of corruption prosecutions at the Integrity Commission (IC), Roneiph Lawrence, has ruled that three councillors at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation should be charged for breach of Section 43(1) (a) of the Integrity Commission Act (ICA) for failure to file statutory declarations.
Two of the councillors represent the People’s National Party (PNP) and the other the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Director of Investigations Kevon Stephenson, in his report to Parliament, says Donovan Guy, a JLP councillor at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, was legally obligated to file statutory declarations with the IC for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Guy allegedly failed to submit the requisite statutory declarations to the commission, by the due date, and was said to have failed to provide a reasonable cause for not filing on time.
In addition, the IC said Guy was given an opportunity to discharge liability by paying the fixed penalty and submitting the outstanding statutory declarations.
Stephenson said Guy only complied with the latter obligation, therefore, he failed to discharge his liability consistent with Section 43(3) of the ICA.
The director of corruption prosecutions has determined that Guy should be charged for breaching the law.
The Gleaner sought comment from Guy but was unsuccessful as the call went to voicemail.
FAILURE TO SUBMIT DOCUMENTS
At the same time, Vanrick Preddie, a PNP councillor who was legally obligated to file statutory declarations with the IC for the years 2019, 2021 and 2022, allegedly failed to submit the documents by the due date. The IC said he provided no reasonable cause for his failure to do so.
The IC said Preddie was given an opportunity to discharge liability by paying the fixed penalty and submitting the required statutory declarations. The director of investigations concluded that Preddie only complied with the latter obligation, therefore he failed to discharge his liability consistent with Section 43(3) of the ICA.
The director of corruption prosecutions ruled that Preddie be charged for breaching the IC law.
When contacted last evening, Preddie said he would issue a statement on the matter today.
Dwight Burke, a PNP councillor, has also found himself in trouble with the IC for failing to file his statutory declaration on time.
According to Stephenson, by virtue of his position as a councillor, Burke had a legal obligation, at the material time, to file statutory declarations with the commission.
Having allegedly failed to file a statutory declaration with the IC for the year 2022, Burke was given an opportunity to discharge his liability by way of paying a fixed penalty and submitting the required statutory declaration.
“Notwithstanding, Burke’s compliance was partial, that is, he only submitted the required statutory declaration but failed to pay the fixed penalty,” the IC director of investigations noted.
He said liability cannot, therefore, on this basis be said to have been discharged.
When the director of corruption prosecutions reviewed the report, he determined that Burke should be charged for breach of Section 43(1) (a) of the ICA for failure to file statutory declaration.