Embattled President of NICH Dianne Haylock returned to the country yesterday and best indications are that she’s going to have to do a lot of fighting to keep her job. We know that Haylock met with the Prime Minister today – and will face the entire Cabinet tomorrow to explain her decision to enter into a contract with developer David Gegg.
The decision of whether to fire her or not rests in the hands of the Minister of Culture – but it will be a decision made most likely with Cabinet consensus. It will be interesting to see how the Cabinet goes on this one because Haylock is considered to have few friends in the big room but she does have the Prime Minister as her ally.
Speaking of his meeting with her today the Prime Minister told us he is convinced the agreement was signed unto in absolute good faith – but stressed that is not to be interpreted as him taking the position that Haylock was right. He told us that at this time he would refrain from pronouncing on the merits of the signing. A press release from his office on Friday called it an unauthorized signing.
And so when she meets with Cabinet tomorrow, Haylock will first have to convince them that she signed the contract in good faith. Cabinet will also have to be convinced that cancelling the contract now will not be too costly to government in terms of damages as Gegg has reportedly already started doing work. But the background to that is that the NICH board has already decided to give Gegg a cease and desist order.
Speaking with Haylock today, she told us that she can only comment to us after she has met with Cabinet and the NICH Board of Directors.
