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St. Ann Municipal Corporation Office of the Contractor General November 2017
21. The OCG accepts the testimonies of Ms. Lydia Morris, Ms. Babbeth Hanniford, and Ms. Paulette
Grant that upon the encashment of cheques in respect of the contracts which were awarded to
them, the monies were handed over to the custody of Councilor Lydia Richards of the St. Ann
Municipal Corporation.
22. The OCG accepts the testimony of Ms. Lydia Morris that in relation to a contract which was
awarded to her in the amount of $300,000.00 by the St. Ann Municipal Corporation on December
12, 2012, she was not the contractor and that the contract was written in her name because the
intended contractor “Maas Joe” could not read or write.
23. The OCG concludes that the recommendations by Ms. Lisa Hanna in respect of approximately
twelve (12) persons affiliated and/or associated with the People’s National Party (PNP) give rise
to a conflict of interest and may be regarded as being tantamount to cronyism and/or favouritism.
The OCG accepts that, before the law, neither cronyism nor favouritism are common law or
statutory offences, however, consideration must be given to whether the act of making
recommendations for the award of contracts to one’s political party affiliates and employees
amounts to an act of misconduct in a public office, wherein a fraud is perpetuated under the guise
of a group payment.
The question of law which must be answered is whether Ms. Hanna, as a Member of Parliament
and in this regard a public official, willfully neglected to perform her duty and/or is guilty of
misconduct by acting fraudulently in making recommendations for the award of government
contracts to persons employed in her constituency office, and to relatives of persons employed in
her constituency office.
24. Ms. Lisa Hanna, Member of Parliament, South East, St. Ann, was insincere when she indicated
that she was not aware that Ms. Beverly Sinclair is the mother of Ms. Andrea Smith, at the time
that the recommendation for the award of contract was made to Ms. Sinclair. The OCG considers