The legal truce called Friday between UDeCOTT and the Uff inquiry into UDeCOTT and the construction sector is generating heated discussion in Trinidad and Tobago with commentators suggesting that the UDeCOTT board is too tarnished to continue its work.
And many, including legal professionals are suggesting the way forward is for the government to fire the existing board and hire new members in order to protect the public’s interest.
But the view from opposition members and supporters is that since it is the cabinet that hires and fires, any new board would still have to take directions and instructions from the Manning administration.
In other words, they say, it would be business as usual.
Former attorney general, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj is not impressed with the deal worked out on Friday. He believes UDeCOTT can still go to the court and frustrate the inquiry since UDeCOTT is bound by the agreement to give UDeCOTT notice of its intentions and it continues to have the right to go to court.
His view is that the entire board should be replaced, an issue he says is fundamental to the whole matter so "there will be no attempt to prevent the inquiry at a later stage or nullify the report of the commission."
Respected state counsel Senator Dana Seetahal believes UDeCOTT could tie up the publication of a report in the courts.
In an interview with the Guardian she said, "If Government permits a 100 per cent-owned company to thwart its will in this obvious way, then we will know that Government has been colluding with Udecott all along."
She suggested that the government could simply fire the board and if continues to stall the commission’s work. Failure to do that, she said, would make it obvious, that the Government was insincere about the matter.
"The board of UDeCOTT cannot function properly outside the will of the government, seeing as the government has the option to fire the board at any time."
But one of the people who is central to the whole issue is standing up for UDeCOTT.
Former Uff commissioner Israel Khan who quit on the basis of presumed bias against UDeCOTT and its chairman, Calder Hart, is cited in UDeCOTT's legal challenge.
Khan told the Guardian, "UDeCOTT has a constitutional right to go to a court of law and file for judicial review, on the grounds that commissioners were biased against UDeCOTT and Calder Hart...nobody should begrudge them that right, because that is the price we have to pay for democracy and the rule of law."
However he rejected the fact that "Calder Hart, in his capacity as a private individual, is using public funds to defend himself in a court of law."
That's a view shared by Maharaj. “If Calder Hart wants to take personal action, let him pay from his own pocket, not use taxpayers’ money,” he told the Guardian.
Opposition Senator M.F. Rahman dismisses the whole idea of a new board. In an email to this blog, Rahman said "one can be almost absolutely sure that the politically appointed successor board will seek to protect its predecessors on behalf of corrupt officials."
Rahman said, "Government is shielding the present board in order to shield itself from exposure as corrupt," adding that Khan's defence of UDeCOTT is bound to generate great cynicism.
He suggested that it is Khan who almost scuttled the probe so his views about UDeCOTT's rights in this matter are "untenable since bias against UDeCOTT arises only through public perception of its corrupt officials."
The Senator said Hart has a right to protect his personal interest, not the interest of UDeCOTT against its owners. He said what people want is not to shut down UDeCOTT but to "remove it from possibly corrupt hands."
And many, including legal professionals are suggesting the way forward is for the government to fire the existing board and hire new members in order to protect the public’s interest.
But the view from opposition members and supporters is that since it is the cabinet that hires and fires, any new board would still have to take directions and instructions from the Manning administration.
In other words, they say, it would be business as usual.
Former attorney general, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj is not impressed with the deal worked out on Friday. He believes UDeCOTT can still go to the court and frustrate the inquiry since UDeCOTT is bound by the agreement to give UDeCOTT notice of its intentions and it continues to have the right to go to court.
His view is that the entire board should be replaced, an issue he says is fundamental to the whole matter so "there will be no attempt to prevent the inquiry at a later stage or nullify the report of the commission."
Respected state counsel Senator Dana Seetahal believes UDeCOTT could tie up the publication of a report in the courts.
In an interview with the Guardian she said, "If Government permits a 100 per cent-owned company to thwart its will in this obvious way, then we will know that Government has been colluding with Udecott all along."
She suggested that the government could simply fire the board and if continues to stall the commission’s work. Failure to do that, she said, would make it obvious, that the Government was insincere about the matter.
"The board of UDeCOTT cannot function properly outside the will of the government, seeing as the government has the option to fire the board at any time."
But one of the people who is central to the whole issue is standing up for UDeCOTT.
Former Uff commissioner Israel Khan who quit on the basis of presumed bias against UDeCOTT and its chairman, Calder Hart, is cited in UDeCOTT's legal challenge.
Khan told the Guardian, "UDeCOTT has a constitutional right to go to a court of law and file for judicial review, on the grounds that commissioners were biased against UDeCOTT and Calder Hart...nobody should begrudge them that right, because that is the price we have to pay for democracy and the rule of law."
However he rejected the fact that "Calder Hart, in his capacity as a private individual, is using public funds to defend himself in a court of law."
That's a view shared by Maharaj. “If Calder Hart wants to take personal action, let him pay from his own pocket, not use taxpayers’ money,” he told the Guardian.
Opposition Senator M.F. Rahman dismisses the whole idea of a new board. In an email to this blog, Rahman said "one can be almost absolutely sure that the politically appointed successor board will seek to protect its predecessors on behalf of corrupt officials."
Rahman said, "Government is shielding the present board in order to shield itself from exposure as corrupt," adding that Khan's defence of UDeCOTT is bound to generate great cynicism.
He suggested that it is Khan who almost scuttled the probe so his views about UDeCOTT's rights in this matter are "untenable since bias against UDeCOTT arises only through public perception of its corrupt officials."
The Senator said Hart has a right to protect his personal interest, not the interest of UDeCOTT against its owners. He said what people want is not to shut down UDeCOTT but to "remove it from possibly corrupt hands."
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