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Wednesday, November 24, 2004 -
Retired judge, Justice Albert Matthew, says some of the coverage of the
Helenites Building affair was scurrilous and cruel and he did not allow it to
influence his findings.
The retired judge was appointed by the Government to investigate the
circumstances surrounding the change of ownership of state property and
facilitation of a mortgage for that purpose.
The retired judge heard witnesses locally and also travelled
to New York to talk to other witnesses there.
The sole investigator issued a 25-page report, in which he outlined the
procedure employed in his probe, what he found and what his recommendations
were.
Among other things, Justice Matthew looked at the “circumstances involving the
attempted transfer of title to the property and facilitation of a mortgage of
$150,000.” He also examined “the behaviour of parties involved in these
matters.”
On the behaviour of the parties involved, the Judge in his report dated October
25, 2004 said, “In the course of the investigation, both in St. Lucia and in New
York, I was shown and referred to various printed matter commenting on the
matter under review.”
“Some of these”, he added, were “scurrilous, biased, misinformed and cruel to
some of the parties involved in these matters.”
However, the investigator said, “I shall not allow them to influence my
findings.”
Unlike some of the conclusions arrived at in the press and in the Internet
chat-room of at least one local newspaper, the Judge found that there was no
criminal intent.
The Judge’s main conclusion was that “top officers of the administration who
wield tremendous power and influence must realize that they are agents of the
Government and must in all matters of policy and substance follow the
instructions of their principal.”
The investigating, former judge’s full report is available
here.
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