Integrity Commission recommends reprimand for PNP councillor over wife’s application to rent space at Ocho Rios Transportation Centre

Director of Investigations at the Integrity Commission (IC) Kevon Stephenson has accused People’s National Party Councillor for the Beecher Town Division in St Ann, Ian Bell, of breaching conflict of interest and good governance standards.

The top IC investigator said Bell was in violation of conflict of interest guidelines when he attended and participated in meetings deliberating on his wife’s application to the St Ann Municipal Corporation to lease/rent a section of the Ocho Rios Transportation Centre and the construction of a commercial building. Stephenson argued that Bell should have recused himself.

The director of investigation has recommended that the Chairman of the St Ann Municipal Corporation Michael, Belnavis, should issue a formal reprimand to Bell for failing to withdraw and recuse himself from the Commercial Services Committee’s consideration of an application submitted by his wife.

The breach cited by Stephenson is set out in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development Councillor’s Handbook which speaks to conflicts of interest and the established principles of good governance, transparency, accountability and integrity expected of elected officials.

Section 4.2.9 of the Staff Orders for the Public Service, 2004, indicates that “a conflict of interest may be deemed to exist” when a person uses “information and/or any material gained from official position for private gain” or exploits “the status and privilege of one’s position for private gain”.

The director of investigation’s conclusion is outlined in a report which probed allegations of conflict of interest and procedural irregularities in the lease approval process and construction of a commercial building at the Ocho Rios Transportation Centre in St Ann.

An anonymous complaint to the IC about the issue triggered the investigation.

The report was tabled in the Lower House on Tuesday.

Further, Stephenson suggested that Belnavis should consider whether the seriousness of the breach, given the personal nature of the interest involved and the councillor’s admitted knowledge of the proper procedure, warrants referral for further disciplinary review under the applicable governance or disciplinary framework of the corporation.

The director of investigation also recommended that the corporation take the necessary steps to assess, calculate and recover all outstanding fees due and payable, in relation to the operation of Shirlyn Campbell-Bell’s business (gaming lounge) in the Ocho Rios Transportation Centre since “about the 3rd or 4th of May 2023”.

Campbell-Bell (wife of Councillor Ian Bell) constructed and operated a commercial building at the centre without the required building and planning permits, violating the Building Act, 2018.

The application for the space was not submitted through the proper registry department process, and Campbell-Bell’s married name was omitted from the application.

In a June 18, 2025, statement to the IC, Campbell-Bell said she prepared the application “with the help of my husband”. As it relates to how the application was delivered to the St Ann Municipal Corporation, Campbell-Bell said she asked her husband to drop it off for her.

Councillor Bell told the IC during a judicial hearing on October 22, 2024, that he declared that the applicant (Campbell-Bell) was his wife.

When asked by the IC if he withdrew from the meeting that deliberated on his wife’s application, Bell said, “I don’t remember, honestly… but I am sure that the chairman did not ask me to recuse myself and I did not offer to the chairman, because the chairman’s responsibility is to chair the meeting in the appropriate way according to the by-laws”.

He added: “But what I can attest to the fact is that from I said, ‘yes, it is my wife’, I said nothing further in that meeting”.

The IC also highlighted some failures of the St Ann Municipal Corporation. The corporation issued approval letters before the full process was completed.

Additionally, the application was not referred to the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development for the minister's approval.

Further, no lease or rent agreement was formalised and no user fees were collected from the business since its establishment in 2023.

- Edmond Campbell

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