Govt denies offering PSC Chairman, Carville Duncan monies to resign; Duncan calls Harmon “a liar”

Last Updated on Monday, 10 October 2016, 10:09 by Denis Chabrol

In the face of Minister of State, Joseph Harmon’s blunt denial that he or President David Granger offered Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Carville Duncan monies to resign, Mr Duncan on Monday lashed back calling Harmon a “liar.”

“Harmon is a liar,” Duncan told Demerara Waves Online News. He said the question that now arises is what motivation government used to request his resignation from the full-time position.

The Minister of State has denied that neither himself nor the President ever offered the PSC Chairman any monies to resign.  “The Office of the Minister of State categorically denies the assertion made by Mr. Carvil Duncan that he was offered monies by the Minister of State or the President,” Harmon’s office said on his official Facebook Page.

The PSC Chairman declined to say how much money was purportedly offered to him, but confirmed that he had asked for time to consider it. “If I was inclined to accept it, I would have been out of the place by now,” he said.  He said the best approach is always to give one’s self time to accept or reject an offer.

Asked what proof he had and whether that included a recording of the discussions he had with Granger and Harmon, he said “I can’t reveal that either” but maintained that “there is proof.”

For his part, the Minister of State said the PSC Chairman was “invited to gracefully vacate the positions he currently holds on several commissions given the fact that he is currently on trial for allegedly stealing $984,000 from GPL and conspiring with another to steal over $27 million from the said entity.”

The Minister of State said Mr. Duncan had said he would “discuss the offer with his family and revert with a decision”, but after he failed to do so government established a Tribunal to inquire, investigate and recommend whether he  ought to be removed from office for inability to perform the functions of the said office.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo has already condemned government’s decision to put the PSC Chairman before a tribunal without first allowing the criminal trial to conclude.