Cabinet Receives Report of Compensation Committee

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, says Cabinet has received the report of the West Kingston Commission Incursion Compensation Committee.

“Cabinet is likely to consider it very soon, and, hopefully, by early November, that report will be laid in Parliament. It will be the precursor to dealing with all the recommendations of the Tivoli Commission of Enquiry,” Mr. Chuck said as he addressed the Rotary Club of Kingston meeting at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on October 12.

The Committee was established to investigate and determine claims for compensation, loss and damage to properties, and to determine the compensation payable to injured persons and to the personal representatives of deceased persons in respect to the events of May 2010.

The establishment of the Committee was one of the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry Report.

Mr. Chuck informed that the report from the Committee indicated that they examined more than a 1,000 claims.

“A deadline was set in December of last year for all claims to be made. When the claims started to come in, a number of persons, through the Public Defender, asked for an extension of that time. So, there was a further extension of the deadline, which caused additional files to be submitted, and the Committee agreed to do them,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chuck said recommendations have been made by the Committee for various amounts to be paid out.

“A number of them… had to put in a proper matrix for those who got compensation immediately after the event. A lot of them were denied because you might have had two or three persons from the same family applying, and the Committee was able to discern that,” he said.

Mr. Chuck said he and Minister of National Security, Hon. Robert Montague, will make presentations in Parliament on different aspects of the Tivoli Report.

“The compensation, hopefully, will be paid out soon after, so that this unfortunate matter can be put behind us,” the Justice Minister said.

The Committee was chaired by Retired President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Seymour Panton. Other members of the Committee were Ministers of Religion, the Rev. Rennard White and Rev. Herro Blair Jr.

Ms. Carlene Larmond, an attorney experienced in litigation, served as Legal Advisor to the Committee.