KINGSTON, Jamaica— Mayor of Kingston, Andrew Swaby, says he does not see the anti-corruption watchdog, the Integrity Commission (IC), as an enemy but an entity that seeks to uphold the interest of Jamaica.

Swaby, who was speaking at his annual divisional conference on Friday in Nannyville Gardens, St Andrew, criticised former Mayor Delroy Williams of allegedly neglecting instructions from the IC to do a review of the council’s administrative processes.

“We tried to move resolution three times in the council to get rid of the whole issue of the developmental approval process and he refused to take my resolutions. The first time I buck up on a problem with that one and the Integrity Commission said do a review process, I followed the advice of the Integrity Commission. One of the first act that I have done when I became Mayor was to have two types of session, we have an ethics session to tell our councillors how we must behave and what is expected of us and we have workshops with the Integrity Commission because I don’t see the Integrity Commission as an enemy, I see them as a friend…,” Swaby said.

Swaby noted that his office will this week receive the reports following the review of the council’s developmental approval process.

“When we start the developmental approval process what we did we meet with everybody, I name a three-member team and I say meet with everybody including the Integrity Commission. I can tell you comrades within a week or two we will have those reports out to make it public …because a first government me ever see weh so much inna building houses and when me see some a the interest, when I see some land they want to take from the KSAMC and sell it to them friends, prime property lands, I say no, no, no. We have to use these lands you can come with us under public-private partnership but I not selling away the land,” Sawby said.