Golding: Contrary to the nasty allegations made by the Opposition, the decision of the Government to acquire the lands on which Hydel is sited met two important criteria.

PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding yesterday rejected the Opposition's allegations that he had engaged in nepotism in the Ferry land saga, calling the claims "scurrilous".

Golding was like an angry fast bowler when he spoke in Parliament yesterday, scoffing at the Opposition for suggesting that the purchase of the six-and-a-half-acre property on which the Hydel Group of Schools is situated was a friendly deed.

Notice to vacate

The group of schools, owned by government senator and Golding's long-time political ally Hyacinth Bennett, was given notice to vacate the premises in 2007.

"To do so would have meant its inevitable closure; the land would most likely have been used for some other purpose and Govern-ment would have been obliged to find school places for the 1,238 students enrolled at Hydel," Golding said.

"Contrary to the nasty allegations made by the Opposition, the decision of the Government to acquire the lands on which Hydel is sited met two important criteria," the prime minister told the House.

Development plans

According to Golding, the purchase of the land was also consistent with the development plans for the Caymanas corridor being actively pursued by the Government.

The Urban Development Corpo-ration (UDC) spent $168.7 million to purchase lands in Ferry, St Catherine.

The UDC is currently preparing a lease agreement to be pursued with the privately run group of schools.

The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) has accepted the explanation by the prime minister.

"We have now been vindicated by the prime minister's statement," Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller told reporters yesterday.

"Had the prime minister from last week said that there is a problem with Hydel; Hydel will have to remove and we are moving to save Hydel, our response would have been different," she said.

Yesterday, the prime minister also said his Government was not in the business of closing schools or allowing schools to be closed where it could be avoided.

Simpson Miller said the PNP was not opposed to education or anything to assist children. "But come to us clean," she said, while maintaining that Golding was less than honest when he addressed the issue in the House last Tuesday.

No moral authority

In his address to the House, Golding fired back at that claim by the PNP, which held state power for 18 years before it lost the general election last year.

"It will be a long time before those on that side can regain the moral authority to accuse anyone of corruption," the prime minister slammed.

Meanwhile, PNP General Secretary Peter Bunting has said the Government must show that business and friendship were separated in the consideration to purchase the lands.

"The Government's spending of taxpayers' money should be clearly justified," Bunting said while expressing disappointment that the Ministry of Education was asked to play a role in the Hydel affair.

"Here you have a private entity being operated for private profit and you are coming in to bail it out with government money, someone who is a government senator and close political associate. I think the burden must be on the Government to justify that there is arm's length and we have still not heard that justification," Bunting added.

The Opposition had called for Contractor General Greg Christie to investigate the land purchase, but Christie has said that he does not have the legal power to investigate the transaction.