Second D.F.C. report “imminent”, says Commissioner

It’s been out of the headlines for months but tonight the Commission of Inquiry investigating the affairs of the Development Finance Corporation is back in the news. According to co-chair of the commission, Merlene Bailey Martinez, her final report is “imminent”. Martinez has been forced to file a separate set of findings after the commission’s other co-chair, Justice Herbert Lord, submitted his own conclusions to the Prime Minister on July twelfth. The D.F.C. Commission of Inquiry was appointed in March 2005 with David Price as Chairman. However, following Price’s death last December, Lord and Bailey Martinez were left to take over the proceedings. After the Commission wrapped up its public hearings in March of this year with testimony from Glenn Godfrey, it appears the two co-chairs could not agree on a schedule to write the final report. Justice Lord has maintained to News Five that given the pressure of his judicial duties and legal advice that he was free to submit his own report, that’s exactly what he opted to do. The People’s United Party has alleged that Bailey Martinez is dragging her feet in an attempt to discredit the government as close to elections as possible. However, Bailey Martinez has maintained to the media that she is “simply trying to do her job properly”. She has declined to specify the precise target date for the submission of her report.