Pastor Leroy Bean will definitely be the Progressive Labour Party’s election candidate for St George’s South, according to the branch chairman for constituency four.Stuart Hollis told The Royal Gazette the fact that Mr Bean was paid almost $86,000 in consultancy fees by the Bermuda Land Development Company (BLDC) while he was its deputy chairman would have no bearing on his candidacy.Mr Hollis, who was himself a member of the BLDC board when it was dissolved by the Premier in May 2011, said Mr Bean’s achievements with anti-gang organisation CARTEL should not be overshadowed by the Auditor General’s Special Report on the Misuse of Public Funds.Mr Bean was selected as the PLP’s candidate for constituency four in August 2010 by branch members but has yet to be rolled out as the party’s official choice.He is also the PLP branch chairman for Hamilton East, where Deputy Premier Derrick Burgess is the sitting MP.“This should not tarnish his reputation,” Mr Hollis said of the Auditor’s report, which was released last week. “He will definitely be the candidate for St George’s South. He has done a lot of good.”Auditor General Heather Jacobs Matthews discovered how government-owned BLDC paid $160,000 in consultancy fees to Mr Bean and chairman Edward Saunders, despite being warned more than once of a potential conflict of interest.She states in her report that board members are “required to avoid conflicts of interest to ensure that the interests of the company take precedence over personal interests” and “must not use their positions for personal profit or gain”.“To do so is unethical and violates the principles of good governance,” she adds.Mrs Matthews alerted Premier Paula Cox to the payments, prompting Ms Cox to recommend to then Works Mr Burgess that the pair resign and pay back the money.The Premier dissolved the entire BLDC board in May 2011, imposing what the Progressive Labour Party described last week as the “ultimate sanction of accountability”.Mr Hollis said he served on the board for several months during early 2011 but knew nothing about the payments to Mr Saunders and Mr Bean the previous year.“I weren’t even there then. Most of the things I was privy to were [about] setting up a committee to look for alternative energy. I was on a committee; that was it. I was enthused about all that and then all of a sudden the plug was pulled out.“Everything about the business you are talking about, I wasn’t privy to. I can’t really comment on it. I didn’t know nothing about that.”He said he had no idea the board was disbanded because of inappropriate payments and simply thought it was because Environment Minister Walter Roban had taken over responsibility for BLDC from Mr Burgess.“I just got a letter from the board, the secretary of the board, telling me that there was a meeting at such and such a place and that the board is going to be dissolved. I didn’t attend it.”Mr Hollis described himself as a community activist and said Mr Burgess invited him to sit on the board as the pair had done much work together in Hamilton Parish.“I was on the board four or five or six months but I only had about three meetings,” said Mr Hollis.He added that the only meeting which stuck in his mind was one attended by permanent secretary Robert Horton when the issue of how to collect wharfage for the former gambling ship Niobe Corinthian was discussed.Mr Saunders and Mr Bean were hired as consultants by the board in early 2010 to carry out an “assessment of the operations” of BLDC, following a suggestion from Mr Burgess that an investigation be conducted.Mr Hollis said he never saw the report produced by the chairman and deputy chairman. This newspaper asked the Works Ministry for a copy of the document yesterday but had not received it by press time.Mr Saunders declined to comment on the Auditor’s report when this newspaper called him last week and it has not been possible to reach Mr Bean, who is understood to be off Island.The other members of the BLDC board when it was dissolved were Aaron Spencer, Angelique Burgess and Leroy Robinson.Mr Robinson e-mailed yesterday: “After much thought, I have decided not to speak to the press on this matter.”Mr Spencer has not responded to e-mails and phone calls and Mrs Burgess has not responded to e-mails.It has not been possible to reach current BLDC chairman Dennis Lister.Regarding the PLP candidate for constituency four, party spokesman Curtis Williams said: “The Progressive Labour Party does not comment on the candidate selection process with the media. Each of our candidates will be announced in due course.”