THE Government yesterday sacked one of its special assistants and opened a probe into the role of the secretary/manager of the St James Parish Council in the flag fiasco, as public anger grew over what many have described as a desecration of one of Jamaica’s national symbols at a civic ceremony.

Local Government Minister Noel Arscott said that special assistant Courtney Hume, who is alleged to have instructed the decorator to leave the green out of a stage backdrop designed to depict the Jamaican flag at the March 29 swearing-in ceremony of new St James councillors, has resigned.

“Our investigations have revealed that his involvement in organising the function, whether he instructed the decorator or not, was not authorised,” said Arscott. “Mr Hume’s resignation has been accepted by the relevant office with immediate effect, and we thank him for his service.”

At the same time, Arscott said that he has asked the Parish Council Services Commission to investigate the role and responsibility of Secretary/Manager Winston Palmer and his staff in the matter.

Arscott’s statement came hours after former Montego Bay mayor and minority leader in the St James Parish Council Charles Sinclair Jnr denied a claim by new mayor Glendon Harris that the function was planned by Sinclair’s administration.

“I wish to unreservedly refute claims by newly sworn mayor and chairman of the St James Parish Council, Mr Glendon Harris, that my administration participated in the planning of the councillors’ swearing ceremony on the 29th March, 2012 at the Montego Bay Civic Centre,” Sinclair said in a statement issued late Friday night.

“Neither I nor any of the other three Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillors were consulted or formally invited to the event; we were merely advised after I made a call to the secretary/manager, Mr Winston Palmer, [inquiring about] the date and time of the event. The only request made of me was to participate in the robing of my successor, to which I acceded,” Sinclair said.

His statement deepened the controversy over the foul-up which was first reported by the Jamaica Observer last Wednesday.

Initially, Mayor Harris had apologised for the debacle and said that he had nothing to do with the decoration, which featured a huge black cloth with a gold soltire in the form of the Jamaican flag.

The Opposition JLP, as well as members of the public have been critical of the backdrop, with some charging that the People’s National Partycontrolled council was being petty and tribalistic because green is the colour of the JLP.

Opposition Leader Andrew Holness described the removal of the green from the backdrop as reprehensible and “a disgraceful violation of our national symbol”.

Last Tuesday, Harris said that while he could not “speak to” whether the omission of the green from the backdrop was “deliberate”, care should have been taken to ensure that all the “Jamaican colours” were used.

He said that he was told by his technical staff that the persons contracted to do the job had said that “they ran short of material”.

Last Thursday, at the regular monthly meeting of the council, Mayor Harris announced that the decorator, Denton Edwards, had decided to refund his $30,000 fee for the job.

“I have spoken to the decorator and he has accepted full responsibility, and he has further indicated that he will repay the money which he collected, with a view to see if he can level the situation with the council,” said Harris.

However, on Friday, Edwards denied Mayor Harris’s claims, saying that there was no shortage of green material to complete the backdrop and that he had no intention of refunding the money.

“I wish to note that there was no shortage of green cloth to complete the task, and I would have been able to complete the backdrop depicting the Jamaican Flag if I was afforded the opportunity so to do,” Edwards said.

Edwards claimed that he was instructed to leave the green out of the flag by Hume, in the interest of time. He also alleged that Hume was employed to the Western Division of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

However, Hume told the Observer Friday night that he was not employed to the OPM, a point supported by Arscott yesterday, even though Sinclair, in his statement Friday night, said he was introduced to Hume as the protocol officer from the OPM Western Region. The introduction, he said, was made by the secretary/manager and was not denied by Hume.

Yesterday, Minister Arscott apologised for what he termed “the inadvertent misuse of the colours of the Jamaican flag” at the swearing-in ceremony.

“As minister with responsibility for local government, the buck stops with me. I wish to assure the Jamaican people that a full investigation is being carried out, and the chips will fall where they may,” he said.

Arscott said his “investigations thus far have revealed that errors may have been committed by a number of parties. These could extend to the Municipal Service, the private contractor, and persons in the employ of the State on the recommendation of the political directorate”.

He said that the permanent secretary in his ministry will be instructing all parish councils that private contractors engaged by them, and public servants within the councils, must be re-trained in the protocols relating to the appropriate use of Jamaica’s national symbols.

“The training will be organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, and the Protocol Section in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade,” Arscott said.

He said it was heartening to know that Jamaicans still treasure our national symbols, especially during our 50th anniversary of Independence, and appealed to all mayors and secretary/managers of parish councils that valuable lessons must now be learnt from this unfortunate error in judgement as we move forward.

“I therefore expect allegations of perceived illintent to be investigated, with serious consideration given to the concerns of all stakeholders,” said Arscott. “If our nation is to continue to mature as a political democracy, then all stakeholders must participate meaningfully in the making of decisions which affect Jamaican lives, property, and communities.”

Arscott’s reference of perceived ill-intent was to complaints by the JLP that its councillors had been subjected to ridicule and heckling at the swearing-in ceremonies.

“As elected servants, we are charged by all Jamaicans to defend their interests, and this Administration remains committed to the deepening of people participation, accountability, transparency, and good governance. It is crucial that these essential pillars of economic growth and sustainable development are achieved primarily at the level of the community.”