Zavia Mayne
By Prince Moore
Nigel Jones, the attorney representing newly installed Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Zavia Mayne, has dismissed as baseless the Integrity Commission's report on possible conflict of interest involving the minister.
The issue is in relation to the 2011 purchase of 200 acres of land at Caymanas Estate by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ), from the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).
The Integrity Commission says in April 2011, the Board of Directors of the FCJ approved the appointment of Mr. Mayne and Robert Ramsey as attorneys-at-law in the FCJ's acquisition of 200 acres of land from the UDC.
At the time, both Mr. Mayne and Mr. Ramsey were serving members of the FCJ's Board of Directors and members of the Caymanas Economic Zone Sub Committee.
But Mr. Mayne's attorney has questioned whether the Integrity Commission has the competence or the capacity to conduct a detailed investigation into simple matters.
Mr.. Jones argued that the existence of a person on a board does not amount to a conflict of interest.
He said a conflict of interest arises when a person who is a member of a board participates in the making of a decision from which he intends to benefit directly or otherwise.
Mr. Jones also questioned the timing of the publication of the report into a matter which took place 12 years ago before his client entered representational politics and became a Member of Parliament in 2016.
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