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Chief Co-op Officer to file additional motion to quash leave order
By Zena Henry
Apart from the motion to do away with the decision to send Chief Co-operative Development Officer Kareem Abdul-Jabar on administrative leave, another court document must now be filed in order for the public servant to be reinstated in his job.
When his matter was called at the High Court before Chief Justice Ian Chang yesterday, it was revealed that Abdul-Jabar is no longer employed at the Ministry of Labour as Chief Co-operative Development Officer. The revelation was made by state prosecutor Pritima Kissoon who is representing the respondent Lorene Baird, Permanent Secretary at the Labour Ministry.
Abdul-Jabar ended up in hot water over an alleged illegal land sale at Lamaha Gardens. He was sent on administrative leave when corruption was alleged in the transaction.
Kareem Abdul-Jabar
Kissoon in essence explained that the motion filed by the applicant is irrelevant, since from the time of Abdul-Jabar’s administrative leave, he has not been back at work.
While the current document requests that the administrative leave order be quashed; which would additionally relieve him from facing the Public Service Commission (PSC), Kissoon indicated that Abdul-Jabar no longer has a job.
It was suggested that the current motion be withdrawn and fresh proceedings be filed to deal with his dismissal.
Abdul-Jabar’s lawyers, Roysdale Forde in partnership with Keisha Chase, however, believe that instead of fresh proceedings, an additional motion should be filed to deal with the dismissal.
According to Forde, on March 5, the motion was filed in the High Court in relation to Abdul-Jabar’s administrative leave. He said that on March 11, the motion was granted and subsequently served on March 13 to the Permanent Secretary. It was on that same day, Forde said, Abdul-Jabar received his dismissal letter, which was dated March 6.
Forde further argued that despite the date of the dismissal letter being prior to the court document, it was only received on March 13.
The date, he said, also reflects that Abdul-Jabar was dismissed within a seven-day period afforded to him for a response to the illegal Lamaha Gardens land sale allegations. In that light, Forde asked for four days to file an additional motion to quash his client’s dismissal.
Justice Chang agreed with Forde’s position and granted him the requested four days. The CJ charged that the matter should be viewed holistically, since the issue is stemming from one matter. The parties will return on March 26 for a report.
Abdul-Jabar had come under fire when residents of Lamaha Gardens cited corruption in the sale of the piece of land which they said was designated for a community recreation area. They cited abnormality in the price for which the property was sold, the time span of the sale, and to whom the land was allocated.
The Guyana Public Service Union also spoke out on the sale stating that the land was union property since GPSU is the successor to the entity that originally owned the plot.
President Donald Ramotar also intervened in the matter ordering the Labour Ministry to launch an investigation, which later suggested that there were several anomalies in the transaction pertaining to an alleged breach in agency policies, procedures and unethical actions.
Abdul-Jabar however stressed that his actions were above board. In his complaint to the court, he said that the entity responsible for the plot of land was dissolved since 2010 because of the lack of co-op members. He said he provided a complete report on the transaction subsequent to being sent on administrative leave and further wrote the Permanent Secretary to say that he could not respond to charges levied against him since there were no particulars.
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