While the Prime Minister was short on details outside the House, Minister of State Edmond Castro was long on prose as he rose for the first time since the BAA check scandal broke to give a statement. Castro has come under persistent fire also because of the visa hustle. Today, he rambled for twenty minutes in defense of his indefensible actions…and that included an explanation of the B.A.A. fiasco, jabs at members of the Opposition, and even biblical parallels – all supporting his premise that nothing he did was corrupt. It’s one of the more incredible Castro moments in the House, and Mike Rudon has some of the highlights.
Mike Rudon, Reporting
Minister of State Edmond Castro looked cool and unconcerned as he sauntered up Independence Hill, unfazed even as some spectators called him ‘Clear the Check’ Castro. Inside the House he stood to give account of his actions in the BAA scandal, stating that he had looked up the meaning of the word corruption in the dictionary, and what he did, wasn’t that.
Edmond Castro, Minister of State, Transportation
Edmond Castro
“The only thing that is being said is that the board of directors of BAA issued a number of cheques in my name or on my behalf or to persons associated to me. There is no suggestion that the board did not have the lawful authority to issue cheques nor is there any suggestion or evidence that I had influence over the board by any improper means to issue cheques. There is no suggestion that I had forced the board to issue cheques or that I had extorted the cheques from the BAA office or from the board.”
Castro spent some time explaining the cheques written in his name and to pay expenses he incurred both politically and personally. He maintained that it is not unusual for organizations to offer assistance out of what is called a humanitarian fund. In regards to cheques totally more than ten thousand dollars to assist in burial expenses, he claimed that because he is a popular politician, bus transportation for those wanting to attend was expensive. But he says that is not corruption.
Edmond Castro
“One of those cheques were issued to help defray expenses associated with the death of my dear mother, Mister Speaker. I am deeply saddened and disappointed that the word of the assistance had been made so public and that it has become so controversial. I readily accept and admit that BAA wrote a cheque to help me to defray some of the expenses associated with the death and burial of my mother. This is no corruption, Mr. Speaker.”
And then Castro went biblical in the House…
Edmond Castro
Edmond Castro
“The outcry over the cheques issued by BAA on the part of the opposition, the media and B.N.T.U. reminds me of the righteous indignation on the part of the Scribes and Pharisees, who recounted in the gospels of Saint John chapter eight verses one to nine; took to Jesus a woman accused of committing adultery and said to Jesus, “This woman is taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the very law commanded us that such should be stoned to death. But what suggests thou?” And Jesus said to them, “He that without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.”
Nobody got up to throw any stones at Castro, so he moved gamely on.
Edmond Castro
“I am not saying that I have not made errors as a minister of state. None of us is inflammable—infallible, hello—but I assure you, Mister Speaker that while I cannot be guilty for making errors, I am certainly not guilty of corruption, Mister Speaker.”
The Prime Minister, in response to a question about corruption by the Opposition, continued to defend Castro, agreeing that it was not corruption. Mike Rudon for News Five.
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