The High Court judgment with regards to the Candy Resort Development in Nevis is leading to a call from St Pauls MP Robelto Hector to call for the immediate resignation of Deputy Premier Mark Brantley. According to Hector, the judgment in Anne Hendricks Bass v Director Physical Planning et al highlights the abuse of power, corruption. in terms of implication. On Tuesday’s edition of Issues Hector said that officers in Government should not abuse their authority for personal gain. According to MP Hector, a judgment recently handed down by the High Court on May 15 2017, Judge Darshan Ramdhani , had pronounced “unusual” actions and conflict of Interest issues which involved Brantley as a government minister and also his law firm. Hector quoted the judge’s statement on this matter saying that the conflict was glaring and accused minister Brantley of abusing his office for personal benefit in that a complaint was made to the government for flawed development. The official response was to inform the complainant- a Miss Anne Hendricks-Bass, “that developers were considering selling the property”. Hector said the evidence is that Brantley offered the property for sale as a minister of government to Miss -Bass.
Freedom Fm contacted the office of Brantley & Associates and called Minister Brantley’s cellphone without making contact. However in a Facebook response Minister Brantley accused the former NRP Minister of corruption in office. Brantley’s Facebook response is given below.
“If a Minister of government entrusted with the Ministry of Lands and the Nevis Housing and Land Development Corporation (NHLDC) to manage the land of the people of Nevis, the people’s patrimony, can nakedly abuse his office to ensure that his father and himself got a house built through the very NHLDC which he chaired; that 3 of his brothers received government land from him; that 1 brother who doesn’t live in Nevis got house and land from him when single mothers living and paying rent in Nevis were told no help for them; that 1 sister who didn’t live in Nevis got house and land from him; that his wife was offered land at $2 per square foot while Nevisians paid $5 and $6; that he himself helped himself to government land; that he put on an apron and paid himself $500 to clean his sister’s government house; that while Minister and chairman of NHLDC he formed a law firm to do all the legal work for NHLDC; but he still asking Nevisians to trust him by putting him back in government, I said reason has truly fled to brutish hearts.”
The MP further stated, “this is where the Deputy Premier, his wife and his business were all entralled in the deal which was orchestrated by him. The judge in the matter was not kind, he laid it out for what it is”. Hector said, “this is going to lead to the resignation of the Deputy Premier, if that is not the case, I give him seven days”. If he doesn’t ,Hector said he was prepared to take the matter to Court : “A group of us would be coming forward to make that case for malfeasance in office, corruption and abuse of power and the judgement would be able to guide us”. Hector said he would also be writing to PM Harris and Premier Vance Amory for their intervention in this matter.