From our Files: April 22nd 1983
THE OPPOSITION will be calling upon President Ellis Clarke to resign when Integrity Legislation comes before the two Houses of Parliament shortly.
Their argument will be that is the only way out for the Prez if he won’t subject himself to investigation by the Integrity Commission.
Leading the “President Must Go” call is controversial MP for St. Augustine, John Humphrey.
As the Alliance steps up its campaign for the upcoming Local Government Elections, John has been blasting away at the Head of State on public platforms.
He is even talking about the days before Mr. Clarke became President, and was only chairman of the Board of State-owned Bristish West Indies Airways.
He has been quoting extensively on one of Bee Wee’s “White Paper” reports dealing with the exchange by the airline of three new Boeing 727 aircraft for four older 707 planes manufactured by the same company.
Insiders estimate thata each of the 727s were worth about $3.5 million (US).
They said the 707s were each valued around $250,000 (US) and were powered by an old fan engine that was nicknamed “the stove pipe engine” because of the smoked it projected.
So much so, that the US Pollution Laws later prohibited this type of aircraft from landing in their country, and all airlines using them and to put them to scrap.
John said he is still not satisfied by the explanations given for the exchange of those aircraft.
Especially as the BWIA White Paper admitted that though, at first, the planes helped to pull in a lot of revenue, in the long run they added to the company’s losses.
The Opposition man said he is prepared to declare his asserts if it came to that.
“If MPs are called upon to declare their asserts, I will make a public declaration and submit a copy to the Integrity Commission.
“In my view, every MP should do that and be honest to the public they represent.
“That is why the President ought not to let it be seen that he is above Integrity Legislation.
“If he refuses to declare his assets for one reason or other, that can be seen by the public to indicate that he has something to hide.
“He does not want them to know the amount of money he has, when they always pay his bills and keep him in a palatial mansion.
“But if all MPs must declare their asserts, then the President should do the same.
“After all, he has a higher lifestyle then anybody else.
“After if he doesn’t want to do so, he should resign.”
