By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER House of Assembly Speaker Halson Moultrie believes North Eleuthera MP Sylvanus Petty should resign as deputy speaker of the chamber for the same reason he was removed as chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation.

He said the leaders of the House should epitomise integrity and credibility.

“Mr Petty sits in the seat of the deputy speaker, and the institution of the Parliament will definitely be affected by the fact that he was forced to resign as chairman under such a scandal,” he said.

“The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker, when substituting for the Speaker, is the judge of the high court of Parliament so that integrity and the credibility of the person sitting in the Speaker and Deputy Speaker’s chair should not come into question.”

 “And in my personal view, if a person is unworthy of sitting as chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation, they are absolutely unworthy as sitting as the deputy speaker, particularly in a circumstance where the current speaker seems to always or more often than not, not be in the chair.”

 “I think it would bring the institution of Parliament into disrepute because it would be difficult for the government or the legislative branch to convince the public that it is indeed an honourable institution if you have a person sitting in the seat of judgement who is deemed to be dishonourable.”

 Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis requested and accepted Mr Petty’s resignation after it was revealed during the Adrian Gibson corruption trial last week that his daughter received a contract from the WSC.

 The Tribune understands the contract was given to the daughter’s company, Mainscape Maintenance and Management, which offers landscaping and general maintenance services.

 Officials have not said whether the contract went through a tendering process.

 Yesterday, acting press secretary Keishla Adderley said the prime minister’s acceptance of Mr Petty’s resignation showed there is “intolerance” for such conduct.

 The Tribune asked her if officials would investigate whether other friends or relatives of Mr Petty benefited in various ways.

 “The government moved very quickly, as you saw this week, to take action to investigate the matter from the end of the Water and Sewage Corporation to speak with Mr Petty and made sure that there was a fair hearing,” she said.

 “If there are further allegations or questions, I expect that they will be investigated in like manner, but it is clear that through the actions that were taken of the Davis administration that the request and acceptance of Mr Petty’s resignation, that there is intolerance for such conduct.”