THE first day’s sitting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives almost ended in chaos early yesterday morning, during an angry exchange between government and opposition members over the proposed divestment of the old Goodyear factory in Springfield, St Thomas.

Opposition MP Karl Samuda warned Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce Phillip Paulwell, who was in the hot seat then, that if he had any intention of “selling that valuable piece of real estate to a person engaged in fund-raising for the People’s National Party, fahget it”.

Samuda said that the Opposition would not allow “Jamaican soil to be sold to friends of this government, anymore”.

Said Samuda: “I am warning you that the MP for the constituency (James Robertson, West St Thomas) and his team will ensure that the interest of the Jamaican people is protected.”

The exchange was triggered by Paulwell’s announcement that Cabinet was studying a proposal for the sale of the 23-acre property to a sole bidder later identified by the Opposition as Gary Foster.

Robertson claimed that the process was not transparent and was an attempt to sell off the property to Foster, a co-founder of Upliftment Jamaica.

Robertson chastised the minister for failing to discuss the sale with representatives of the people of Thomas, including himself, the custos and the mayor, before deciding on Foster and his group as the sole bidders.

But Paulwell countered that the government had been trying to sell the property to private interest for several years without any interest being shown.

He said that his ministry had sold land right across Jamaica before using the same process as is being used for the disposal of the Goodyear facility without any fuss.

When Robertson continued to criticise the process, the minister asked him: “do you have a proposal”?

Government MP Sharon Hay-Webster, who intervened, accused the Opposition of abusing the minister in front of the committee.

Opposition MP Pearnel Charles asked whether there was a plan for the development of the facility from the bidders. Paulwell said that it was one of the conditions and that process has been completed and the matter was now before the Cabinet.

The minister could not say how much government had pumped into the facility since it was closed by Goodyear in 1997. However, he admitted that it was at least $143 million, including $43 million for its purchase and over $100 million spent on upgrading it into an information technology call centre. Cable & Wireless also donated some $90 million to the upgrading.

Paulwell refused to name the group accepted as bidders or the price the facility would be sold for.

“We have to market it. We’ve tried to sell it and we have advertised extensively. Now we have got an offer and the person has presented a development plan for it, the Government of Jamaica will take a decision on the sale based on the valuation it has received,” Paulwell said.

Samuda suggested that the minister table the information about the sale in Parliament, but Paulwell said that it would have to be a Cabinet decision.

He said that he was not in a position to confirm or deny whether the bidder was associated with fund-raising for the PNP, as alleged by the Opposition, and that a due diligence of the bidder was not a condition of the sale.

Upliftment Jamaica was founded by Foster and a group of young men from White Horses, St Thomas in 1999 as a vehicle to raise funds for community projects.