THE Opposition last night claimed that Vin Lawrence, the chairman of the Urban Development Corporation was a director of a Bahamas incorporated subsidiary of Ashtrom Building Systems – the construction company the UDC gave the contract to build the controversial Sandals Whitehouse hotel in Westmoreland.

Lawrence could not be contacted last night to comment on the claim by Opposition foreign affairs and foreign trade spokesman, Karl Samuda, during a House debate on Samuda’s call for a forensic audit into the huge overrun in the cost of the hotel.

But the allegation of impropriety on the part of Lawrence, a key member of Prime Minister P J Patterson, led to an uproar from the government benches, with suggestions that Opposition members may have abused parliamentary privilege to impugn the character of the UDC boss.

In fact, Patterson quickly jumped to Lawrence’s defence, saying that he was confident in the integrity of his advisor.

“Let me say this unapologetically that insofar as the integrity of Dr Vin Lawrence is concerned I have not the slightest question on the evidence that has been available to me on his track record of contributing to the public sector over the many years,” the prime minister said.

But Samuda and the Opposition shadow finance minister, Audley Shaw, were adamant that, at the very least, Lawrence had questions to answer on his relationship with Ashtrom and the Bahamian-based subsidiary, Asdor Inc.

According to Samuda, Bahamian records show that Asdor, incorporated in 1996, is owned 50/50 by Ashtrom and an Ashtrom subsidiary, Ashtrod Infrastructure. Dr Lawrence, the records suggest, was a director of Asdor at least up until 2001, Samuda said.

“I asked myself what is a high-ranking (Jamaican) government official has to do with a Bahamian company that is linked to a domestic company doing billions of dollars of business with this country – $7 billion in the last few years?” Samuda said.

Among the jobs that Ashtrom has undertaken is the Whitehouse property, a more than 300-room hotel, which two government companies, the UDC and the National Development Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) are two-thirds owner.

The other third is owned by Gorstew, the holding company of Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, the chairman of this newspaper.

Originally, the property, operated by Stewart’s Sandals hotel chain, was priced at US$60 million, but then went to US$70 million. The final price is estimated at around at least US$105 million.

Not only was the property over budget, but it was a year overtime and even when the hotel was opened in February of this year it was not fully completed.

There was sharp disagreements between the partners at the cause of the overrun, with the UDC claiming changes in the scope of the works. Gorstew has rejected these arguments, insisting that it could not get straight answers from its partners during the construction phase. This controversy apart, a number of Stewart’s other companies have sued the Ackendown Developments, the vehicle used for the development of the hotel, for alleged non-payment for material and work done on the property.

In the midst of the controversy, the Opposition tabled a parliamentary resolution calling for a forensic probe of the development and it was the debate of that motion that turned raucous last night.

Shaw, poking at Lawrence, said the chairman of the UDC, a partner in the hotel and the agency in-charge of the construction, was a director of Asdor, a subsidiary of Ashtrom, to which the building was contracted “without tender”.

The value of that contract, Shaw suggested, was US$80 million. Moreover, he said, Ashrod Infrastructure was contracted for infrastructural work.

“Incest and rank conflict of interest,” Shaw declared.

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister K D Knight raised the question of abuse of privilege, saying that the Opposition had produced no evidence to support their suggestion of impropriety or worse.

As the uproar in the House rose, the speaker threatened to discontinue the debate if he was not able to hear Knight above the noise.

“I think that is a nice cop out,” Leader of Opposition Business, Derrick Smith suggested.

“I am not standing up to defend Dr Lawrence,” Knight explained. “I can’t because I would be doing so without instructions and I don’t act without instructions.”

He said that Samuda had used a number of documents to make a connection but had “showed absolutely no misbehaviour on the part of the person whose character you want to impugn”.

Knight left the chamber after his impassioned contribution.

Patterson agreed that there was no evidence of corruption.

He noted that Ashtrom started as a part-government owned company, which was now totally owned by its Israeli partners.

There was nothing wrong, the prime minister, if a privately-owned Israeli company chose to become incorporated in the Bahamas. This did not suggest something illicit or improper conduct, he said.

Samuda’s accusation, Patterson said, did not by itself establish that “the person has done so with any pecuniary benefit or gain, or is doing so in a manner which is in conflict with the public duties he is called upon to perform”.