PNP accepts Integrity Commission findings against Councillor Ian Bell

The People’s National Party (PNP) has accepted the Integrity Commission’s findings that Councillor Ian Bell should have recused himself from deliberations involving his wife’s application for space at the Ocho Rios Transportation Centre in St Ann.

In a statement, the PNP said the findings represented a breach of good governance and acknowledged that Bell, despite declaring that the applicant was his wife, “should have recused himself and ought not to have been in attendance”.

The party said it had long maintained that elected and non-elected officials must declare personal interests and remove themselves from consideration of matters in which a real or perceived conflict of interest could arise.

The Integrity Commission’s Director of Investigations, Kevon Stephenson, recommended that St Ann Municipal Corporation Chairman Michael Belnavis formally reprimand Bell for failing to withdraw from the Commercial Services Committee’s consideration of his wife Shirlyn Campbell-Bell’s application.

The investigation stemmed from an anonymous complaint and examined the application to rent space at the transportation centre for a gaming lounge, as well as the construction of a commercial building to house the business.

Campbell-Bell applied in March 2023, but the commission found that the application had not gone through the corporation’s established registry process.

It was delivered to the corporation by Bell, with Campbell-Bell telling investigators that she had prepared it “with the help of my husband” and asked him to drop it off.

The commission also found that the commercial structure was erected without the required building and planning permits.

Bell told the commission that he had declared during the relevant meeting that the applicant was his wife.

However, when asked whether he had withdrawn from the meeting, he said he did not remember doing so and had not offered to recuse himself because he believed that responsibility rested with the chairman.

The commission nevertheless concluded that Bell breached conflict-of-interest and good-governance standards by failing to withdraw from meetings at which his wife’s application was considered.

The investigation also uncovered other irregularities surrounding the arrangement.

The commission found that no lease or rental agreement had been formalised between Campbell-Bell and the St Ann Municipal Corporation, while no user fees had been collected from the business since it began operating in 2023.

It recommended that the corporation calculate and recover all outstanding fees associated with the operation of the gaming lounge.

The commission also found that approval letters had been issued before the full process was completed and that the application had not been referred to the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development for the minister’s approval.

The PNP noted that the Integrity Commission had made no referral for criminal prosecution but said that did not diminish the seriousness of the governance breach.

It also acknowledged Bell’s years of service as an elected local government representative but said his record did not excuse the conduct identified in the report.

“That record does not excuse what happened, and the lesson is one which ought to guide every elected representative who may face a conflict of interest in the course of their duties,” the party said.

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