Dear Editor,

I have never laughed so hard as when I saw

The Gleaner‘s letter of the day titled ‘Samuda should resign over Mombasa grass’ on Wednesday, May 24, 2017, by Professor Trevor Munroe of the National Integrity Action.Of all people, Dr Munroe should not be the one to lecture about integrity. I am finding it hard to imagine him with a halo above his head and sprouting angel wings. As a woman in my low 80s I know that, with time, the memory dulls, but he can’t have forgotten his own activities in the 1970s and 80s when Jamaica and the region, including Grenada, were in political turmoil.Dr Munroe can’t have forgotten his activities as head of the now defunct Workers Party of Jamaica, better known by its acronym WPJ, and its support for Bernard Coard and the New Jewel Movement during the upheaval in Grenada which ended with the invasion by the United States after then Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and some of his ministers were assassinated.Samuda can defend himself, but may I note that the use of his land for the Mombasa grass — while he should have insisted that his offer of payment be accepted to avoid any misunderstandings — was of more benefit to the project than any gain to him. The five acres being used under the project to test the grass was inadequate. It needed something of the magnitude of 15 acres or more that Samuda was able to provide.It is interesting that Professor Munroe makes reference to Mike Henry and Richard Azan. Those two gentlemen were in a fairly similar situation to Samuda and were forced to resign by their own Administration. But, after all the investigations, it was found that their only crime was to have been careless in how they interfaced with State resources and not corruption as was alleged. Even the Office of the Contractor General found no criminality. So they are back in their positions.This situation is also akin to the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal when she used a private server to send State information. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found that there was carelessness, but no criminal intent. Dr Munroe should learn from that before calling for empty symbolism in an unwarranted resignation.But then he is always quick to see problems on the Jamaica Labour Party side but not in his beloved People’s National Party, where he believes he can always find grist for his National Integrity Action mill. Somehow the (Mombasa) grass is always greener on that side, isn’t it, Dr Munroe? By the way, no pun intended. 

Katherine M Gardner

Katgard2013@gmail.com