The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER Water and Sewerage Corporation board member called by Adrian Gibson's defence told the court yesterday that the former chairman stepped out of contract votes involving people close to him.

Under cross-examination, however, he said he knew nothing of a company prosecutors say Gibson owned, or of the $710,000 they allege Gibson received from two companies awarded tank contracts.

Bennett Minnis, who chaired the WSC's contract committee under the Minnis administration, gave evidence before Senior Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson.

Questioned by defence attorney Ryan Eve, Mr Minnis said he never saw Gibson cast a vote on the board. He said it took three to four board members to do business, and no one person ever made a decision.

He said Gibson told him during contractor selection that a friend of his had applied as a contractor, and then excused himself from the meeting. Gibson did not vote on the tank refurbishments or the painting of the WSC's headquarters, he said; the deputy chairperson was present, and Gibson was told to come back after the vote. Gibson also told the board that his then-girlfriend, Alexandria Mackey, was a legal adviser to Elite Maintenance, and excused himself from that contract meeting, Mr Minnis said.

Ms Mackey, Gibson's former fiancée, has already testified against him under an immunity agreement.

Under cross-examination, Director of Public Prosecutions Cordell Frazier showed Mr Minnis an Inland Revenue document that she said listed Gibson as the owner of Silver Lining Enterprises. Mr Minnis said Gibson never told him he owned the company, and agreed that Gibson did not declare that he was receiving money from a contract awarded to it.

Ms Frazier also put it to him that Gibson received about $710,000 from two companies awarded tank contracts. She said Ms Mackey was a signatory for Elite Maintenance and that Gibson had access to the company's bank account. Mr Minnis said he was unaware of this. When Ms Frazier suggested that Elite Maintenance ceased to exist after it was awarded contracts, he said no one had told him that.

Mr Minnis disagreed that these matters amounted to a conflict of interest. Asked whether money not disclosed to the board would be a conflict, he said it might be.

He said several board members were present when Gibson declared Ms Mackey's role, and that the declaration should be in writing. However, he said he destroyed all the documents he had after his tenure at the WSC ended. The prosecution disputed that any such document ever existed.

Ms Frazier then showed him documents on a sixth water tank, in Winton, which she said was not painted. She told him that work on a sixth tank would have been outside the board's directives. Mr Minnis said he was unaware of a sixth tank.

Mr Minnis said the board had to approve contracts worth more than $250,000, after which they passed to management. Ms Frazier said such contracts had to go to the minister for approval. Mr Minnis said he was unaware of that.

He said he was arrested and interviewed during the investigation, and answered questions on his attorney's advice. He said he was never asked how the board conducted itself or how it passed votes.

He agreed that he and Gibson are close and have known each other for years. He said he met Ms Mackey only once, at a Red Cross event.

Mr Minnis said the five tanks, three on Baillou Hill Road and two near the airport, were in a deplorable condition when board members viewed them. He said they needed work whether or not there was a pandemic, though he also said the work was urgent to stabilise the economy. He said the board relied on advice from the engineering department, headed by Dietrich Taylor. He reported to then Minister of Works Desmond Bannister and visited the tanks in May 2017.

To his knowledge, he said, the WSC did not lose money on the projects. Asked whether the corporation was in the red during the pandemic, he first said it had been instructed to limit bill collections to help people, then said he did not know. He disagreed that the WSC had historically been in the red, saying he did not have that information.

In re-examination, Mr Minnis said he did not know of anyone's involvement in Silver Lining. He said he was aware of an investigation led by Diane Saunders, who brought information to the board, but did not know its details. He said he could not remember everything from that time.

The defence opened its case this week. Prosecutors recently withdrew 18 charges against Gibson, all counts of receiving, and dropped the case against one co-accused entirely.

Gibson still faces 41 charges, including bribery and money laundering.

The case centres on allegations that contracts awarded during Gibson's tenure at the WSC benefited companies linked to him and his associates. He is on trial alongside former WSC general manager Elwood Donaldson Jr, Joan Knowles and Jerome Missick. All have denied wrongdoing. Gibson pleaded not guilty in 2022, jurors were selected in May 2023, and the trial has been under way since November 2023.