Jesse Ramdeo

Se­nior Re­porter

jesse.ramdeo@cnc3.co.tt

An il­le­gal sham.

That is how Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar has de­scribed an im­pend­ing probe by a Cab­i­net-ap­point­ed com­mit­tee in­to the un­der­state­ment of pub­lic rev­enue for the 2023 fi­nan­cial year.

On Tues­day, Fi­nance Min­is­ter Colm Im­bert an­nounced that re­tired High Court judge Jus­tice David Har­ris was se­lect­ed by the Cab­i­net to lead the in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to the un­der­state­ment of rev­enue in the last fi­nan­cial year and oth­er re­lat­ed mat­ters, which has caused an im­passe be­tween Au­di­tor Gen­er­al Jai­wantie Ram­dass and Fi­nance Min­is­ter Colm Im­bert. 

The ap­point­ment of the in­ves­tiga­tive team was the lat­est de­vel­op­ment af­ter a dis­pute de­vel­oped be­tween the Fi­nance Min­istry and Au­di­tor Gen­er­al in con­nec­tion with the sub­mis­sion of doc­u­ments re­lat­ing to the $2.6 bil­lion un­der­state­ment. 

Ram­dass al­so yes­ter­day sig­nalled that she was go­ing ahead with a threat to sue At­tor­ney Gen­er­al Regi­nald Ar­mour to en­sure the State pays for her le­gal rep­re­sen­ta­tion in de­fend­ing her­self against what she calls an at­tack on her pro­fes­sion­al sta­tus.

In an­nounc­ing the team, which al­so in­cludes David Ben­jamin, a for­mer au­dit di­rec­tor at the Au­di­tor Gen­er­al’s De­part­ment, and will be round­ed off with spe­cial­ists in In­for­ma­tion Tech­nol­o­gy, on Tues­day, Im­bert al­so de­fend­ed the ob­jec­tiv­i­ty of the named mem­bers.

Con­tact­ed by Guardian Me­dia on the is­sue yes­ter­day, Per­sad-Bisses­sar con­tend­ed that the “in­ves­ti­ga­tors were po­lit­i­cal­ly hand-picked by Min­is­ter Im­bert and the Cab­i­net”.

She ex­plained that, “its job is to de­flect po­lit­i­cal at­ten­tion away from the fi­nan­cial fi­as­co that has oc­curred un­der his watch”.

She al­so ex­pressed a lack of con­fi­dence in the team’s abil­i­ty to pro­duce key find­ings as they in­ves­ti­gate the cur­rent im­passe.

“This sham com­mit­tee was ap­point­ed to take the po­lit­i­cal heat off Min­is­ter Im­bert and was de­signed to do po­lit­i­cal dam­age con­trol. It will be a waste of tax­pay­ers’ mon­ey and amount to noth­ing. The com­mit­tee has no le­gal sta­tus, au­thor­i­ty, or pow­er to in­ves­ti­gate any­one or any­thing.”

Per­sad-Bisses­sar sug­gest­ed that in­stead of an in­de­pen­dent probe by a Cab­i­net-ap­point­ed com­mit­tee, the au­thor­i­ties should have con­sid­ered util­is­ing the Pub­lic Ser­vice Com­mis­sion (PSC) to re­solve the mat­ter. 

“Mr Im­bert should have re­port­ed this mat­ter to the Pub­lic Ser­vice Com­mis­sion (PSC) so that it could con­duct an in­de­pen­dent in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to the facts and cir­cum­stances lead­ing to this colos­sal and alarm­ing er­ror. The PSC has the pow­er un­der the Con­sti­tu­tion and the law, to in­ves­ti­gate breach­es by pub­lic of­fi­cers and can prof­fer dis­ci­pli­nary charges af­ter the in­ves­ti­ga­tion is com­plete if nec­es­sary.”

Per­sad-Bisses­sar as­sert­ed that the PSC was the on­ly in­sti­tu­tion to en­sure a trans­par­ent in­ves­ti­ga­tion.

“The PSC reg­u­la­tions have spelled out a pro­ce­dure for con­duct­ing such in­ves­ti­ga­tions to en­sure that they are done in a fair and trans­par­ent man­ner with re­spect for in­di­vid­u­als’ rights.

“Mr Im­bert wants to act as judge, ju­ry, and ex­e­cu­tion­er by ap­point­ing this com­mit­tee. He has usurped the role and func­tion of the PSC, which is the on­ly body by law that has the pow­er to in­ves­ti­gate dis­ci­pli­nary mat­ters and mis­con­duct in the pub­lic ser­vice.”