Abraham Butler (inset) filed a Writ against the Water & Sewerage Corp.
Nassau, The Bahamas – On 12th December a Writ of Summons was filed by Gwendolyn House the Chambers of Fred Mitchell MP on behalf of Abraham Butler, the former General Manager of the Water and Sewerage Corporation by Gwendolyn House. The writ alleges that Mr. Butler was wrongfully dismissed on 23rd August 2007 by the Corporation and makes a claim in damages to be assessed.
The matter of Mr. Butler’s history at the Corporation arose in the House of Assembly when the Minister of State in the Ministry of Public Works responsible for the Water and Sewerage Corporation Phenton Neymour raised the matter in early December. At the time Mr. Mitchell accused Mr. Neymour of seeking to poison the well at a time when he knew that litigation was pending and there was a dispute between Mr. Butler and the Corporation about his disengagement and the compensation offered.
Mr. Neymour raised in the House that Mr. Butler had worked as a consultant to two other public corporations beside his main employer the Water and Sewerage Corporation. He disclosed the level of compensation for these consultancies and tried to suggest that something was wrong with accepting those jobs. The facts later disclosed by Shane Gibson the MP for Golden Gates that Mr. Butler was duly authorized to accept the other consultancies and that the money he was paid was money for value given. Mr. Butler is considered an expert on performance appraisals and Mr. Gibson disclosed that both the National Insurance Board and the Bahamas Electricity Corporation were satisfied with Mr. Butler’s performance in that regard.
Fred Mitchell, the Attorney for Mr. Butler, said today that “on further reflection, it must again be repeated that Mr. Neymour was wrong to seek to poison the well in the way he did in the House of Assembly. It betrays a strange penchant that the young neophyte Ministers in the Ingraham Cabinet have for ‘begrudgefulness’ when it comes to Bahamians and their compensation.”
The Writ does not deal with the allegations raised by Mr. Neymour in the House or of the consultancies but Mr. Mitchell says that there are other remarks that have emanated from the Minister and the Corporation outside the House that may lead to defamation writs against him and the Corporation.
A copy of the Writ of Summons is attached to this release.
