August 18, 1997 - The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the appointment of Ms. Monica Joseph, as sole Commissioner under a Commission to be appointed by the Governor General, to Inquirer into certain aspects of alleged corruption and abuse of authority in the Public Service. Ms. Joseph is a retired High Court Judge of the OECS Supreme Court, who has on occasion acted as an appellate Court Judge.

The Commission is to Inquirer into the following among others :
1. the payment out of the Consolidated Fund of certain monies to Mr. Ausbert d'Auvergne, under a Technical Cooperation Agreement signed between then Prime Minister Sir John Compton and an official of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);

2. the payment by the government of St. Lucia, to Mrs. Shirley Lewis, the sum of EC$10,365.15 for professional services rendered in the matter of Police vs. Claudius Francis;

3. the construction of a road in Shanty Town, Vieux Fort;

4. all the circumstances surrounding the sale of approximately 26 acres of beachfront in Roseau Bay, by Model Farms Ltd. (a company in liquidation) to Genesis Ltd.; and

5. the arrangements entered into between former Minister of Sports, Desmond Brathwaite and Klohn-Crippen for preparatory work on a national stadium.

The Commissioner will also be required to identify legal and administrative deficiencies which either permit or facilitate acts of impropriety or illegality by public servants and to make recommendations to address these.

The inquiry which will be public is to commence on Thursday 28th August, 1997 and will last approximately thirty days.