Boots Martinez Felt Charitable

Leader of the Opposition John Briceño has written separate letters to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie, and director of the Financial Intelligence Unit Kent Clare, demanding an investigation of Minister for Human Development Anthony “Boots” Martinez. Briceño writes that an apparent illegal and corrupt scheme was established between Martinez as minister of Works and Kirk Lamb, who claims he was paid nearly two hundred thousand dollars in about sixteen months in contracts under the Southside Poverty Alleviation Project. Lamb says he gave the monies back to Martinez, which the Minister denies. Briceño calls on the Prime Minister to fire Martinez from Cabinet and ensure that a thorough investigation with no interference takes place. Similarly, Clare and Whylie are asked to investigate and proffer charges against Martinez. The Commissioner, writes Briceño, will face legal action if he fails to comply. In related news, on Friday documentation from the Government’s SmartStream accounting program leaked to News Five showed payments of nearly fifty thousand dollars for community assistance were approved for seven persons just eight days before municipal elections. But according to Martinez, the payments are not unusual. They come from a special fund set up by Government and must be approved by two other treasury officials to go ahead. So far this has not been done. But why now? Here is Martinez’s explanation.

Voice of: Anthony “Boots” Martinez, Minister of Human Development

“That is not [an] unusual transaction. Under the Official Charities Fund, there is a line item where we help people with community projects; people weh sick, people bring in proposals for various things – for football teams and basketball teams and so on, and when funds become available, we approve them.  No it’s not community assistance; he brought in a proposal to do a clean-up campaign. Those are community projects, they need to bring in a proposal. Getting trucks – as far as his proposal is, that is to get in trucks and clean up garbage and so in specific areas, [like] the Jane Usher Boulevard area. I think that is what the proposal is for.”