Gov’t condemns charges against Lawrence, Norton

Minister of State Joseph Harmon Thursday afternoon condemned the charges filed by the Parliamentary Opposition against two Government Ministers.

Former and current Ministers of Public Health, Dr George Norton and Volda Lawrence were charged with “gross misconduct in public office” by Parliamentarians Vickram Bharat and Juan Edghill, respectively.

Harmon, in a press statement, said the charges are a “cowardly attempt to draw public attention away” from the “sordid record corruption” while the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was in High Office.

“The nuisance value of today’s legal action is just another attempt by a political party; the PPP that is aware that investigations have revealed that during its tenure the nation was losing billions of dollars each year through procurement fraud and other corrupt activities by senior public officials,” the State Minister said.

Harmon is confident that Ministers Lawrence and Dr Norton will be proven innocent.

“We are sure that in the matter before the court the actions of our ministers will be vindicated,” the State Minister said.

He also contended that this “shenanigan” is an attempt to detract from the “malfeasance charges” that were filed against former Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL), Winston Brassington.

Harmon further expressed that this “legal shenanigan” will make a mockery of the country’s legal system.

Nonetheless, he assured that the Government will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that those who held public office and engaged in malfeasance while in office are brought to justice.

The PPP has similarly promised to file more private criminal charges against officials of the present government.