There is a "mystery" document" in the files of the Valuation Division of the Ministry of Finance stating that since 1983, seven years before the 1990 uprising, there was information of a plot by the Jamaat al-Muslimeen to overthrow the government.
The People's National Movement was in power at that time. Parts of the document, undated and unsigned, were read yesterday by lead counsel Avory Sinanan during the commission of inquiry into the attempted overthrow of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) government in July 1990. Describing the part about the plot as a "telling passage," Sinanan, reading from the document, said throughout 1982 Jamaat leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr enjoyed growing support from his members.
However in 1983, the commission heard, dissension crept in and began to grow when seven elders at the mosque opposed the leadership over a plot to overthrow the government. The document, revealing that information, was reportedly circulated at the time. Sinanan read the information before the commission as he cross-examined witness Ronald Heeralal, Commissioner of Valuations.
Heeralal, who was appointed to the position in 2003, was not involved in any land matter concerning the Jamaat prior to the coup d'etat and only read files from the Valuation Division from during that period. He said the document about the Jamaat plot to overthrow the government "entered" the division files around 1994 but may have been in existence ten years before. The inquiry heard that Bakr returned to T&T from Canada in 1978 where he resided for several years and started an Islamic organisation in Richplain, Diego Martin, where he lived. In 1982, he was installed as leader of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen when several Afro-Muslim groups merged. In another matter, files from the Valuation Division revealed that five months after the bloody 1990 uprising, the State sought to acquire the lands the Jamaat occupied at No 1 Mucurapo to set up a Defence Force base, Sinanan told the commission. He said a letter from the permanent secretary in the Justice Ministry to then Port-of-Spain mayor, Augustus Williams, said Col Ralph Brown, who played a major role in quelling the insurrection, was privy to discussions about that. Sinanan said it was unfortunate, if not strange, that no mention of that was made by any member of the T&T Regiment who gave evidence in the inquiry earlier.
He said in December 1990, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice and National Security wrote a letter to the Valuation Division urgently requesting the portion of land. The land was leased to the Port-of-Spain City Council. The letter said the ministry wanted the land to construct an army base to facilitate the transfer of personnel from Camp Ogden, which was deemed inappropriate. The 3.757 acres of land the Jamaat occupied was worth $1.5 million. Sinanan asked Heeralal if the State already owned the land how could the question of acquisition arise. He said that was a legal impossibility. Heeralal replied that under the Land Acquisition Ordinance the State could acquire leasehold land to be used for the public interest.The land was never acquired, however, it was stated. Sinanan also referred to several assumptions made by then director of surveys, one of which was that the Jamaat's land was unoccupied. "This was a flagrant contradiction of reality. The Muslimeen occupied the land. The assumption was not rooted in reality," Sinanan put it to Heeralal. After a lengthy period of evading a direct answer, Heeralal eventually said it was being said the occupants (the Jamaat) were squatters. He said if the occupants had no legal rights to the land, the director of surveys could assume a vacant possession title would be available.