Padarath Calls on Rowley to Release Report on Smith
Princes Town MP, Barry Padarath has called on Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley to break his silence on the Wilson report into allegations of wrongful dismissal against former Minister Darryl Smith.
Padarath indicated that Rowley confirmed that he received the report of the committee headed by former Permanent Secretary Jacqueline Wilson on June 4th, 2018. However, since receiving the report, the government has gone totally silent on the issue.
The Princes Town MP stated that over two months has passed since the Prime Minister has been in possession of the report, yet there has been no indication of when the report would be made public or what the findings of the report are.
He further stated that the allegations of sexual harassment made against the Minister and the allegations of using public funds as “hush money” to keep the matter concealed in a non-disclosure agreement still has not been dealt with.
Padarath stated that it appeared that the Prime Minister was hoping that the public would forget about this matter and that it would simply go away. He added that if the report exonerated the former Minister from any wrong doing in the matter the Prime Minister would have moved swiftly to advise the public and reinstate the Minister. Having failed to do so in the past two months and more, the Prime Minister’s silence on this matter confirms the presumption of guilt against former Minister Darryl Smith. He added that this matter has seriously undermined the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs as well as the moral integrity of the government, yet the Prime Minister does not appear to be convinced by the Wilson report that the contents of the report could restore the image of the government and the former Minister. Had the Prime Minister been convinced by the Wilson report that the former Minister was cleared, the former Minister would already be back in the Cabinet.
Padarath called on Rowley to move expeditiously to make available the Wilson report in the public interest.