The Tribune

AFTER being named as one of several high-profile people who were on a “confidential list” at Water and Sewerage said to allow persons not to face disconnection, Julian Francis was adamant that he had no knowledge of such a list and did not benefit from special treatment from any public entity.

Mr Francis, a former Central Bank governor who also previously served as executive chairman of BTC, took issue with the suggestion that because his name and account information appeared on the corporation’s list, he benefited from some payment deferment by WSC.

“As the details of any account maintained in my name at WSC are a private matter between that entity and myself, I do not intend to comment on whether or not the information is factual and accurate,” he wrote in a letter sent to The Tribune.

“I, however, assure the public that any such account which remained unsettled after the normal period allowed for payment would, as far as the writer is concerned, have been the result of some bona fide unresolved matter,” he wrote.

He also said: “For the record, I have never, to my knowledge benefitted from any special forbearance by a public entity. I have never been aware that my name is included on a special treatment list and would probably have declined to be so included if I had been consulted.”

On Monday, The Tribune exclusively reported about high-profile persons and politicians who were on the “confidential list,” which was dated June of this year and obtained by this newspaper.

Many persons who appeared on the list have expressed surprise and said they did not know about the matter.

Last week, WSC Corporation Chairman Adrian Gibson confirmed the existence of a special list populated by scores of elites at the government owned utility provider as he pledged to initiate a crackdown on delinquent accounts.

At the time, Mr Gibson told The Tribune the “confidential list” held 221 accounts, with a combined total of $175,000 for the period ending June 2017.