By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
A SENIOR manager at the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) claimed in court yesterday that Adrian Gibson asked her how the corporation could increase the cost of maintenance contracts awarded to companies he allegedly ordered to be contracted.
Mynez Cargill-Sherman’s evidence came during her last day of testimony in the bribery and fraud trial of Mr Gibson and five others.
She had previously testified that she was instructed to triple the first payment of each contract to vendors.
When asked under re-examination yesterday about when the money was tripled, the witness couldn’t definitely say but explained it could’ve been in September 2018 or October 2018.
She said the requests to increase the payments were coming in “so rapidly.”
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions and lead prosecutor Cordell Frazier asked her if the scope of work had changed.
Mrs Cargill-Sherman said it had not.
Ms Frazier asked her if the frequency of work changed.
In response, the witness claimed Mr Gibson told her in a meeting: “What ways can we find to increase costing?”
She said they then came up with a frequency.
Ian Cargill, who represents Elwood Donaldson, Jr, WSC’s former general manager, suggested the payments increased because of the extent of work required.
“Were you not told that the reason the tripling of the first payment was because it was no maintenance done for months almost to a year because of COVID?” he asked.
The witness said she was never told that but assumed the areas had not been cleaned for a long period because of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Damian Gomez, KC, Mr Gibson’s attorney, suggested that Mrs Cargill-Sherman never met with his client regarding maintenance contracts.
However, she disagreed, saying the two met twice.
Mr Gibson is charged with Mr Donaldson, Jr, Ms Peaches Farquharson, Rashae Gibson, Joan Knowles and Jerome Missick.
Together, the group face 98 charges, including bribery, fraud, receiving and money laundering. They have denied all of the allegations.
Mr Gomez, KC, Murrio Ducille, KC, Bryan Bastian, Ryan Eve, Raphael Moxey, Christina Galanos, Mr Cargill and Donald Saunders represent the defendants.
Meanwhile, the Crown’s prosecutors are Ms Frazier, Cashena Thompson, Karine MacVean and Rashied Edgecombe.
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