PORT MARIA, St Mary — Chairman of the St Mary Municipal Corporation Richard Creary has warned officers of the local authority that some of them will be hauled before the Public Services Commission, once he gathers enough evidence to substantiate troubling allegations that have come to his attention.

“It is alleged that they are collecting fees from [private] clients to work in their interest,” Creary said during the monthly meeting of the St Mary Municipal Corporation on Thursday.

He added: “I will be doing everything in my power to get one of those [private] persons to put this [allegation against the public officers] in writing. And once I get it in writing, it will definitely be sent from the corporation to the [Public] Services Commission to have the matter dealt with. So I just want to say to those who know they are guilty, be careful.”

Creary did not name the public officers.

However, he raised concern about the alleged behaviour of a current public officer in relation to a court case that the municipality has been pursuing against a private builder.

“It appears that persons that are supposed to be working with the interest of the municipal corporation at heart have forgotten that that is their mandate and are working with the interest of the client who has made the breach. I won’t say anything more than that and I plan to have words with that particular individual. One of them works here [at the municipality] and one that no longer works here seem to want to interfere with the process. This will not happen under my watch,” Creary asserted.

The Public Services Commission handles the appointment and removal of public officers and takes disciplinary action as needed.