Mullings

That was the reaction of Energy Minister Clive Mullings as news broke that former Junior Minister Kern Spencer and two others had been slapped with several charges.

Mullings, who brought the issue to public attention with a statement to the House of Representatives last year, said it was a "dark day" in Jamaica's history when a member of parliament was charged with the offences now facing Spencer.

Red flag raised

Mullings said the police investigation was in keeping with what was found during the preliminary probe conducted by Energy Ministry officials.

"That was what we found that led us to call in the auditor general, contractor general and the Fraud Squad."

According to Mullings a red flag was raised shortly after he was appointed minister and he saw the nature of expenditure on the Cuban light-bulb programme and the period over which the millions of dollars had been spent.

Shortly after the internal probe, Mullings placed a stop on further payments under the programme, despite claims that Spencer had issued letters to suppliers confirming that they would be paid two days before the PNP was booted out of office.

That stop order remains in place: "Any further payments will have to be verified and the ministry has to be sure that the money was owed for goods or services actually delivered".

Some $114 million has already been paid out under the programme with invoices for a further $162 million sitting in the Ministry of Energy to be paid.