PNPYO accuses Parliament's Ethics Committee of selective enforcement in recalling MP Dennis Gordon
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Analysis
The article centers on a UHWI procurement scandal involving alleged misuse of tax-exempt status and an Auditor General report, and it discusses Parliament’s Ethics Committee action and accountability claims against public officials.
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The People’s National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) is condemning what it describes as selective enforcement by Parliament’s Ethics Committee, following its recall of lawmaker Dennis Gordon over the ongoing University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) procurement scandal.
General Secretary of the PNPYO, Peta-Gay Ferguson, said the decision to recall the PNP lawmaker raises is part of a “troubling pattern of selective enforcement ” and raises “serious concerns about whether the Ethics Committee is being applied fairly and consistently”.
“Let us be clear. A matter that has already been examined, reported to the House, and approved through a motion cannot simply be resurrected without a proper basis. That is not oversight, that is overreach,” Ferguson said in a statement issued on Friday
Ferguson warned that that revisiting an issue without clear justification risks undermining public confidence in the oversight process.
On Wednesday, the Ethics Committee indicated that Gordon will be asked to appear on April 22 to clarify statements made during earlier deliberations, particularly in light of new information emerging from the Public Accounts Committee.
That summoning of Gordon follows disclosures that a JACDEN Group of Companies, which is led by Gordon, was among four firms that benefited from the misuse of tax exemptions at the University Hospital of the West Indies. Gordon is the Member of Parliament for St Andrew East Central.
The PNPYO also called for similar scrutiny of senior government figures, including Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness and Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, in relation to wider governance and accountability concerns.
“Jamaicans are not blind to the disparity, ” the PNPYO general secretary said.
“If the Ethics Committee is to retain any credibility, it must demonstrate that the rules apply equally to all, not just to some. There must be no sacred cows, no protected names and no double standard.”
JACDEN has insisted that it was not accused of any misconduct in the auditor general report that unveiled the UHWI's procurement breaches in January. And Opposition Leader Mark Golding has also contended that Gordon has not broken any law eve as he announced that Gordon would step aside from the Public Accounts Committee and the Shadow Cabinet pending investigations by the authorities.
The Auditor General’s report noted that in 2024 the hospital “misused” its tax-exempt status to import $40.6 million in office furniture and dialysis machines for a company referred to as Private Company 2, which received tax relief valued at $10.1 million. The hospital has since confirmed that Private Company 2 is JACDEN.
Gordon has since indicated that JACDEN repaid the approximately $10 million it saved.
The other three companies implicated are Supreme Laundry Services, Willman Sales, and Scientific and Medical Services Limited.
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