Seymour Mullings' J$4 m-a-year BGLC payout

[Lazie]

Friday, November 23, 2007



Former Member of Parliament for South East St Ann and Cabinet member Seymour Mullings received a payment of J$4 million a year from the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC) as a special advisor on racing to the Ministry of Finance under the previous administration, however it is not clear what services he had offered.


Seymour Mullings
Investigations by Caribbean Business Report revealed that from June of 2004 up until August of this year, Seymour Mullings received J$4 million annually for his services.

On March 24, 2004 the then, minister of finance, Dr Omar Davies wrote to the chairman of the Betting Gaming & Lotteries Commission (BGLC), Walter Scott, with a view to the appointment of Seymour Mullings as a special advisor on racing issues.

Caribbean Business Report obtained a copy of that letter, which reads: "This represents a follow-up to our discussions in which I indicated that I wish to appoint the ambassador, the Hon Seymour Mullings, OJ, former deputy prime minister and minister of finance and planning to be a special advisor to the Ministry of Finance and Planning for a period of one year, on matters related to the racing industry.

"As indicated to you, there were significant developments which are taking place in the industry and there is need for a close liaison with the various special interest groups in the industry. The work of liaising with these interest groups is critical to ensure smooth implementation of the developmental plans which are in train for the industry.

"I would like the cost associated with Ambassador Mullings' appointment to be taken up by the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission."

Dr Omar Davies, signiture appears on the letter.

Inquiries were made to former members of the BGLC and racing experts to find out whether Mullings had the required skills set and knowledge of the racing industry to merit this appointment.

"Well, he was a former minister of finance but he has never, to my knowledge, had a career in the racing industry. You need to ask the people at Caymanas Race Track whether he has spent time there and whether he has ever been part of the industry," said Adam Levalle, a racing industry expert.

Speaking with Caribbean Business Report earlier this week, Derek Peart, the present executive director of the BGLC, said: "We were given instructions by the then minister of finance, Dr Omar Davies back in 2004 to issue a grant for Mr Mullings as a special advisor on racing to the Ministry of Finance. Mr Mullings did not offer his services to the BGLC so we have no idea what kind of contribution or services he offered between 2004 to 2007. That comes under the purview of the Ministry of Finance.

"We have offered grants to NGOs and other institutions to engage the services of specialists who in turn report on their activities directly to us. These specialists have the expertise and provide an invaluable service to the community. For instance we engaged the services RISE Life Management who conduct work on addictions, such as gambling and alcoholism, and it reported directly to us on a timely basis. We have no idea what Mr Mullings did on racing because he did not report to us. That matter must be taken up with the Ministry of Finance."

A spokesperson at the Ministry of Finance said: "We are aware of this situation and efforts are being made to find out what exactly Mr. Mullings did for the Ministry of Finance and whether he paid taxes on the J$4 million a year he received between June 2004 and August 2007."

[Lazie]

Mi really curious what Baddaz and Mosiah affi say bout this? I guess this should have been kept under hush hush too?

[Muadib]

What about the Conflict of Interest going on now !

Stop distract us wit dem ting deh man.

[Hortical]

No wonder the country so poor and pauperized, as dem tek the people's purse as dem personal bank account.

[Mosiah]

Normally, I would have considered this shameless and criminal. But not with Robertson declaring zero dollars for his campaign expenses.

[Lazie]

Normally, I would have considered this shameless and criminal. But not with Robertson declaring zero dollars for his campaign expenses.

Thats nothing new .... you'll always find a way to pass the blame.

[Mosiah]

Pass blame?!? Where am I doing such a thing?

My question to you is, do you think it is a big deal when MPs are less than forthcoming with their financial declarations?

[Lazie]

Pass blame?!? Where am I doing such a thing?

My question to you is, do you think it is a big deal when MPs are less than forthcoming with their financial declarations?

You're the only person I hear with this .. and seeing that you have certain hangups regarding the JLP ... provide the article nuh?

If you do something wrong, should it be excused because I did something wrong too? At times I have to wonder if yuh posting under the influence.

[Mosiah]

Yuh need to wonder! I can't go anywhere in this place and not inhale some quality hi-grade. All a stadium di odda day...murdah!

[Gamma]

how yuh know di quality?

[MdmeX]

how yuh know di quality?

Tested and tried

[Muadib]

Your value system is based on Paul Robertson activities ?

Now I understand the problem.

[Mosiah]

Politicians make mockery of election expense declarations

By Durrant Pate
Senior Staff Reporter

Most of the politicians who contested the September 3 General Elections have apparently made a mockery of existing laws requiring them to file returns of their election expenses.

mere 27 out of the 146 candidates have filed their returns, which ought to be done six weeks after a general election. Therefore, the remaining 119 are in breach of the Representation of the People Act, in not filing their election expenses for the campaign period, which ran from Nomination Day to Election Day.

Checks by the Sunday Herald of the 27 candidates who filed their Form 22 returns to the Electoral Office showed that most of them indicated that they incurred no election expenses, whether personally or otherwise, or incurred minimal expenses of $50,000 and under. Interestingly, all of the declarations which were examined and found with election expenses of nil or under $50,000 came from the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), whose election campaign was more expensive and elaborate than its main rival, the People National Party (PNP).

The JLP candidates whose election expense declaration was either nil or under $50,000 included Industry and Commerce Minister and JLP General Secretary, Karl Samuda; Labour Minister, Pearnel Charles; Minister without Portfolio, James Robertson; State Ministers Robert Montague, Michael Stern, Everald Warmington and Laurie Broderick; Deputy Speaker of the House, Marisa Dalrymple; and government backbencher, Franklyn Witter.
Among the party’s losing candidates, Dennis Messias in South St. Andrew, Dennis Meadows in North Trelawny and Don Foote in Eastern Westmoreland, completed the JLP’s list of candidates who declared minimal election expenses of $50,000 and under.

Conversely, none of the 12 PNP candidates who made declarations, reported election expenses of under $150,000.

Minister Robertson declared that he incurred no expenses whatsoever for the election campaign period, while his fellow Minister, Pearnel Charles reported expenses of only $12,000.

Minister Samuda’s election expenses was a mere $25,000, of which $10,000 was for distribution of advertising material, $10,000 for expenditure on canvassing, and $5,000 for paying clerk or messenger.
He reported that his campaign, like his other two Cabinet colleagues, received no money from any sources in connection with the election.

State Minister Montague reported living expenses for the campaign period of $10,000 and petty expenses of $1,500 for repair to his car, while his fellow State Minister, Michael Stern, declared election expenses of $37,000, of which the greater portion of $25,000 was for distributing advertising materials.

Broderick declared on October 16, election expenses of $34,000, representing living expenses and $24,000 for distributing election materials, while Deputy House Speaker Dalrymple reported expenses of a mere $18,000, of which $10,000 was for living expenses and $1,800 to repair her motor vehicle.

Warmington’s declaration was similar to Stern, where he had reportedly spent $37,000, inclusive of $25,000 for distributing advertising materials. Witter declared a measly election expense of $12,000 for living and petty expenses.

While Prime Minister Bruce Golding did file a declaration of election expenses, our news team could not source a copy of it

While all of the 12 PNP candidates filed declaration of over $150,000, the declarations still raised eyebrows, given reports of massive expenditure by candidates on both sides of the political fence. JLP chairman, Robert Pickersgill, reported the biggest election expenses on the PNP side, with $2.43 million, of which the lion’s share of $1.5 million went to expenditure on printed materials.

External funding of $400,000 was declared by Pickersgill, which came from friends of his North West St. Catherine constituency.

Lisa Hanna came in a close second with $2.39 million, of which the greatest portion of just over $1 million was for 26 road and spot meetings at a cost of $40,000 each. In her election expense declaration, Hannah identified some of the sources of her funding and included $500,000 from her party, $200,000 from her companion, Richard Lake; $100,000 from Tankweld; and $300,000 from an E. Bullock from the United States.

Opposition Leader and PNP party president, Portia Simpson Miller, declared election expenses of $1.68 million, of which $800,000 was spent on election day. She further declared that funding of $1.6 million came from her Constituency Fund Raising Committee.

Dr. Morais Guy got a lifeline from the party, which directly funded almost 85 percent of his $1.65 million campaign expenses.

Derrick Kellier was also the beneficiary of funding from the party and former PNP president, P.J. Patterson, had the fortune of his company, Heis Consultants, financing part financing his $1.6 million election expenses.

Peter Bunting declared expenses of $1.5 million, with one million being spent for lunch and refreshment. He detailed advertising expenses of $280,462 for TVJ, $181,740 for CVM, $97,929 for Irie FM and $39,867 on ZIP103FM.

Roger Clarke declared expenses of $1.4 million and received $250,000 from the PNP.

When contacted, Director of Elections, Danville Walker, shared the Sunday Herald’s concerns about some of the declarations, but said the law only required that declarations be filed and no follow-up action taken to ensure that the declarations were truthful. He also made the point that the law, while stipulating that declarations be filed six weeks after an election, did not impose any penalty for non-compliance. He said the law was written in the spirit that there would be compliance.

[Lazie]

Oh .... I get it. Suh this is the reason for excusing the criminal acts of the PNP? Gwaan duh yuh thing. Describing you as comical isn't the word ...