Sunday September 5th, 2010
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Non-gazetting of Uff Commission of Enquiry...
Tragedy of oversight, says Lucky
Published: 14 Dec 2009
Seenath Jairam SC, left and President George
Maxwell Richards at President’s House.
Retired Justice of Appeal Anthony Lucky has described the non-gazetting of the Uff Commission of Enquiry as a tragedy of oversight. In his report, which was presented to Attorney General John Jeremie last Wednesday, Lucky said: “I have to mention that the more I review the circumstances surrounding this inquiry, and the interviews with the parties summoned in this matter, the more I am convinced that this is the classic case of each of the relevant parties thinking the other or others had complied with the requirements of the Commission of Inquiry Act. “It a classic case of lack of communication, assumptions and presumptions, inadvertence that resulted in a crucial requirement being overlooked for just under a year,” he said.
“In the circumstances, I cannot ascribe sole responsibility to any specific person or persons. I find that the failure to gazette the commission is a tragedy of oversight.” The Uff inquiry closed on Thursday with chairman John Uff, QC, promising to present his report to the President by the end of February 2010. Lucky, who was retained by the Government to investigate why the inquiry was not gazetted, could not be reached yesterday as he was out of the country. Lucky, a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), said in his report: “What I do recommend is that whoever is appointed, especially legal counsel, has a duty to fully acquaint himself with the provisions of the Act, the law and practice, and must perform his functions in such a manner that the law and practice are strictly adhered to.”
LEFT: Justice Anthony lucky
The former judge said it had also been drawn to his attention that the President of Trinidad and Tobago did not have a permanent legal adviser or in-house counsel. “The majority, if not all, of His Excellency’s decisions have a legal underpinning or may require knowledge of the relevant requirements of the law (the instant matter is an example),” he said. “Therefore, I recommend that in-house counsel should be appointed to advise His Excellency if and when legal matters arise.” During his probe, Lucky interviewed the following people: Attorneys Seenath Jairam, SC, Kerwyn Garcia, Ian Roach, Marvo Harper, Garvin Simonette, Judith Gonzalves, the commission’s secretary, and Ida Eversley, Assistant Parliamentary Counsel.
The probe:
By letter dated September 10, 2009, Lucky was appointed to inquire into the reasons why the Commission of Enquiry into the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) and the construction sector had not been published in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette.
What Lucky found:
1. Firstly, there was an oversight by the secretariat at the Office of the Prime Minister where the appointment of the commission should have been sent to the government printer for publication in the Gazette.
2. Secondly, there was an oversight by the secretariat at the President’s office where gazetting should have been verified before His Excellency was asked to sign the instruments.
3. Thirdly, the secretary to the commission should have ensured compliance with the Act.
4. Fourthly, the Attorney General at the time should have ensured that the notice was sent to the government printers and that the notice was published.
5. Fifthly, counsel to the commission should have checked the documents to verify that a notice had been published.
6. Sixthly, the commissioners themselves ought to have verified that there was compliance with the Act before proceedings commenced.
Is this the selfsame Justice
Is this the selfsame Justice Lucky that the PNM had put up for Presidency against ANR Robinson of UNC government back in 1997 ?
So how much did they pay him to find out nothing ?Any kindergartener could have said nobody is to blame! You lucky son of a gun $$$$$$$$$.
Off the beaten track,
Off the beaten track, slightly
Let us remember AG John Jeremie 'mentioned' not so long ago that a lot of the drafting is "outsourced" and there are times when the drafting has to be re-drafted. Apologies if I missed it, but I do not appear to have seen a memo or statement as to how that "tragedy of re-drafting" was going to be handled.
La Diva
The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. For to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves-and the better the teacher, the better the student body. Warren Buffet
Are we reading that
Are we reading that oversight took place at six different offices? One gets the impression that these people are not thorough, not methodical, not professional. If important matters like this could have escaped six different offices, one wonders about the state of other important matters which directly involves our day to day lives. Hmmm!!!!!!!!!!
yes I was trying to be
yes I was trying to be polite and dont write it up, but there is something in this oversight or undersight or sightlessness.
Oversight now means beyond
Oversight now means beyond the horizons of 20:20 vision, all part of vision 2020. I just read of some pioneering use of replacement lens in cataract surgery where patients are achieving higher than 20:20 vision. I don't believe they are offering this technology in Cuba as yet.
Prince its a UK invention
Prince its a UK invention and it was presented last week, you get HD vision, but hear this Prince, when you go book yr ticket on line and you dont complete a box that requires data, you cant go to pg 2, it sends you back to pg 1, can't we set that on line booking programme in TT for any ministry and adapt it for any project? its simple any computer programmer can do a checklist to fiil out
like:
Date Gazetted-------
by whom------
if you dont fill it in then you cant proceed to pg 2.
pg 2 is for signatures
hmmm
Mr Lucky's choice of words
Mr Lucky's choice of words is ironic. The root cause was not due to an oversight (unintentional omission resulting from failure to notice something) but a LACK of oversight (management by overseeing the performance or operation of a person or group).
The six points he noted clearly demonstrate that there is a lack of proper processes in the administration of the people's parliament. These processes must clearly include checks and balances to ensure the smooth functioning of our government.
Cute Trinican, very cute.
Cute Trinican, very cute.
We're both on the same page
We're both on the same page JT..thanks
Prince good insight. Prince
Prince good insight. Prince I think TT needs good systems, I frequently, tell Colm that also so we dont have to pass the buck, and Colm does not have to come making excuses, but good of him to contribute on Guardian's chat. Everyone at the gatepost signs off, The SAP process can be adapted to accountabilities, There are programs you could implement for decision making, Why are these not used in Trinidad?.
Yet we see in the secret scholarship awards from Culture Ministry, how do they choose the people to award?, should the programme be in the TT govt gazette and published?, OAS publishes its scholarship intention programmes for us to consider.
TT gazetting something after so many enquiries, a history of enquiries gazetted, they know what has to be done and Uff's lawyers should know of the checklist before proceeding or did they consider "a coffee and sandwiches service" checklist in preference to "was this enquiry gazetted according to TT's constitution"? durrgh! on Uff on this.
or was Uff only interested in the job?
Desmond, like Uff, if they
Desmond, like Uff, if they offered you a mid-winter all-expenses break in the Caribbean plus pay and perks, would you say no? And we saw Hart personally escorting Uff & co to tour the NAPA after the close of the hearings. This gesture by Hart could well turn out to be a double-edged sword.
But I agree the whole operating system of Corporate T&T is dysfuncional, be it at the human level, the procedural level, at all levels. The system is programmed to operate by vaps and only one man controls the entry code. He wrote the program and therefore is the only one who understands it.
As for Colm's Ministry, his Transport Division (Licensing Office) could do with a total revamp. The use of a quilted patchwork system of a piece from Nova Scotia, a piece from here, a piece from there and wherever else is a recipe for disaster.
Checks and Balances. It's
Checks and Balances. It's what separates the developed world from the pretenders. No amount of buildings, commonwealth meetings, and commission hearings will change that. It is about changing attitudes. If you are accustomed to operating in a slip-shod manner and there is no oversight, this is what you get. We in TT still don't get it. Mistakes will always happen but they can be reduced significantly when people care about what they do and how they do it. It's called professionalism. Now is that a respected trait in TT?
Lucky's findings merely
Lucky's findings merely confirms that you just can't get good help these days and if you want to do a good job you have to do it yourself. But busy CEOs (using the term in a generic sense) do not always have the time to dot "i"s and cross "t"s.
In the past we had Presidents who were lawyers, two of whom were distinguished in the field of law. The current President is himself not a lawyer and it is surprising that he has not been provided with in-house legal counsel. But that is not surprising, since the wannabe Executive Dictator has done everything to sideline the current Office of the President and to reduce it to rubber stamp status.
Once upon a time Manning proposed Lucky as a stalking horse candidate for President when he, Manning was in Opposition. How come he changed his mind when he got into Government and had the built-in majority to elect Lucky?
Exactly what we have been
Exactly what we have been saying all along: this country does not use SYSTEMS, nor does it use the GATE and GATE KEEPER Process with checklists.
....Justice Lucky is too
....Justice Lucky is too kind in his remarks over the gros slackness and incompetence at the highest levels of governance in T&T....