( L - R ) PEART, SHAW

A former minister in the previous People's National Party (PNP) administration has claimed that Finance Minister Audley Shaw captured government land in the past and shunned attempts by the state to negotiate its divestment.

Dean Peart, the Minister of Land and Environment in the P.J. Patterson-led government, told The Gleaner yesterday that if the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) witch-hunt was not on, the revelations would probably not have been made.

"We are colleagues. Whether PNP or JLP, but oh God man, you can't just go out to destroy the man," Peart said in reference to embattled PNP Member of Parliament Kern Spencer.

Spencer is listed among 71 persons/bodies to have purchased government lands between 2004 and 2007 without the approval of the Land Divestment Committee. The committee was set up by Peart to ensure transparency.

Tarn Peralto, the JLP Member of Parliament for South East St Mary, had tabled questions to his JLP colleague, Dr Christopher Tufton, the current minister of agriculture. He wanted to know the number of parcels of government lands sold between 2004 and 2007 when Peart was minister.

Response

Tufton's response on Tuesday, in the House of Representatives, showed that Spencer bought two acres of land in Gilnock, St Catherine, for $2.8 million. It also revealed that Cool Oasis purchased lands in Sedburgh, Manchester, for $1.2 million. This parcel of land in Manchester was part of the property on which Shaw's gas station was located. The gas station was later sold to Cool Oasis, a service station chain which is owned by Joe Issa.

Peralto told the House on Tuesday that according to the document, "a member in this House is listed as having been granted a property approved by the minister but (the matter) was not sent to the Land Divestment Committee."

He later sat and shook hands with Othneil Lawrence, JLP MP for North West St Ann.

Yesterday, however, Peart was militant.

"A JLP government come to lick down Kern Spencer now. All di charade dem gwan wid inna Parliament is fi Kern Spencer," Peart said.

"But di same knife stick sheep, stick goat," Peart said as he repeated an old adage.

Refused to dialogue

The PNP spokesman on Local Government claimed that Shaw captured the land and refused to dialogue with government agencies to pay for it.

"We try everything to contact him and to collect the money from him and Mr Shaw refused to negotiate. Him not even say the price was too high or anything, him never pay us no mind," Peart said.

Shaw, however, said that the land was nothing more than an old road.

"It is a little strip of land which represents a part of an old main road, which would have been owned by the Ministry of Works," Shaw told The Gleaner yesterday.

The land is 844 square metres in size or just a shade under quarter acre.

"That (the old road) was the access to the land. When I owned it (gas station), I brought the Ministry of Works down and showed it to them and they say OK. I specifically said to them that I would be prepared to purchase it," Shaw said.

"The truth is that you want to involve Audley Shaw's name because it is sexy and romantic. What is being referred to as a piece of land is an old road and to get on the blasted land you have to drive on the old road," Shaw said.

But Peart is contending otherwise.

"He captured it. I gave instructions to the land agency to survey it, value it and write to him. I did that and he didn't respond at all to them," Peart said.

He added: "After him capture it, my people wrote to him and tell him he has to pay for the piece of land and he said OK.

"What hurt me is that all of Jamaica upset when Kern Spencer purchase a piece of land, applied for it and buy it. Shaw, who is the Minister of Finance now, capture government land and is no big thing," Peart said.