A SENIOR bureaucrat who granted Eddie Obeid a water licence almost six times larger than authorities recommended without following proper process has been accused of lying to a NSW corruption inquiry.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was on Friday taking evidence from Dennis Milling, the water authority's director of licensing from November 2006 to February 2010.
The commission is investigating whether Obeid used his political power to influence the review and granting of water licences for a $3.65 million farm his family bought in Bylong Valley, in NSW's Hunter region, in November 2007.
In August 2008 a draft document from the water department recommended an annual quota of 150 megalitres for the property, Cherrydale Park.
But on November 27 the same year, Mr Milling amended the unrestricted licences to allow Cherrydale Park 860 megalitres of water each year.
Government licensing agents look at the size of the area traditionally irrigated, about five years' data, to determine how much water is needed.
But this wasn't factored into Mr Milling's calculations.
The matter was raised with him by Andrew Phillipa, a licensing officer.
Assistant Commissioner Anthony Whealy questioned the former director of licensing about the process he followed.
"Neither of the two reports you've been shown tell you anything about the area that had been historically irrigated, do they?" he asked.
"Not thus far," Mr Milling replied.
He said he had seen a different report, showing 100 hectares or more required irrigation.
He acknowledged that Mr Phillipa had seen an identical file and had not found any document about Cherrydale's past use or a government assessment of the property's historic water use.
"That doesn't make sense, does it? If (Mr Phillipa) said there weren't any (records) and you say ... you saw (a record of Cherrydale Park's historic water use), well, where is it?" Mr Whealy asked.
"I believe that somewhere in the documents it actually appears," Mr Milling said.
Earlier on Friday the ICAC heard Mr Milling had directed a licensing officer not to inspect Cherrydale Park.
A day before the officer was due to inspect the farm, Mr Milling wrote an email cancelling her trip.
A complaint was also lodged with the department and several days after the call she was suspended on full pay.
Initially, the officer thought her suspension was "harassment and bullying from senior managers" but she now believes it was due to an error she made in her paperwork.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Bureaucrat accused of lying to ICAC
Dengan url
http://mesinjahitan.blogspot.com/2013/11/bureaucrat-accused-of-lying-to-icac.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Bureaucrat accused of lying to ICAC
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Bureaucrat accused of lying to ICAC
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar