Government yesterday moved to have Opposition Senator Wade Mark taken to the Privileges Committee for ’wilfully’ and ’intentionally’ misleading the House with statement on the Chancery Lane project, in which, among other things, he (Mark) accused UDeCOTT executive chairman Calder Hart and UDeCOTT of giving Johnson Construction Ltd a $130 million contract, to build the Chancery Lane project, without tender.

Moving the motion was Government Senator Linus Rogers who accused Mark of misleading the Senate in making the statement. Rogers also noted that Mark said Hart and ’Mr Forrester’, who is director of Johnson Construction Ltd, are good friends and this resulted in the award of the contract, which was now running over $700 million and counting.

Rogers said the award of the contract to construct the Chancery Lane building was discussed at length in the other place (the House of Representatives). He said during the budget debate in the House of Representatives, the Works Minister Colm Imbert stated that there had been a number of tenders for the Chancery Lane Project in a competitive bidding process and after careful evaluation, Johnson Construction’s tender was found by UDeCOTT’s tender committee to be the best evaluated tender for the project.

’Not only did Senator Wade Mark mislead the Senate...He did so wilfully. He did so intentionally,’ Rogers stated.

’Mr President, this conduct by Senator Mark cannot go unchecked. In the past, members of this Parliament and other persons have been penalised for less serious offences. Wilfully misleading this Senate brings dishonour on all members of this Senate and all decent and honourable Members of this House believe it is their duty to hold Senator Mark to account in order to restore the people’s faith in Parliament,’ Rogers stated.

He added that members of Parliament had a duty of care towards all persons- ’especially those who we may injure in the exercise of our freedom to speak in this House’.

Speaking with reporters afterwards, Mark said: ’I am not God and if you make a statement, I have the complete right and freedom to make statements and if I am wrong, you correct me. And that is how debates are. I would want to await the ruling of the President’.

Mark is the second senator in four days to be accused of misleading the Parliament. Businessman Emile Elias accused Independent Michael Annisette of misleading the Parliament in making statements about him (Elias).