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Mr. Audley Shaw M.P. Dear Sir Re: Contracts entered into by certain Public Sector Executives I have received a letter dated 3rd October 2000 addressed to you from Mr. Douglas Leys Deputy Solicitor General concerning reports made in the electronic and print media to the effect that the Ministry of Finance and Planning had requested advice from the Hon. Solicitor General on the legality of the contracts of certain public sector executives. In his letter Mr. Leys has stated that exhaustive enquires in his office show no record of having received such a request from the Ministry of Finance and Planning. The records of the Public Accounts Committee, page 6 of the Verbatim Notes, will show that I never at any time said that the Ministry of Finance and Planning has sought the advice of the Solicitor General. What I said was that the advice of the Solicitor General was sought and that 1 have not seen a response from the Solicitor General but 1 know that the advice was sought. The fact is that in preparation for the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee my team headed by Mr. Robert Martin met with the Cabinet Secretary, Head of the Special Committee on Public Sector Salaries and he advised us that he had written to the Solicitor General with respect to the contract of one of the companies involved (copy attached) and was awaiting a response. Attached also is a copy of another letter seeking advice in respect of a contract. In situations like this it is customary to select a case for legal advice and such advice when given would be used to determine the other cases. I must state emphatically that there was no intention to mislead or misinform the Public Accounts Committee. Yours faithfully
P. Richardson (Mrs.)
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