The paper said the former minister issued a statement in which she threatened legal action over allegations of misuse of the fund.
Last week, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told Parliament there was bias in the handling of the fund.
Speaking during the budget debate, she referred to a report by the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), which was compiled following complaints by Devant Maharaj, that there was discrimination by the PNM government in the awarding of State scholarships. Maharaj is now a cabinet minister.
The EOC report stated that only seven per cent of the scholarships went to Indo-Trinidadians.
The EOC report stated that only seven per cent of the scholarships went to Indo-Trinidadians.
In also said that it had found on many occasions that records on the fund appeared to have been "sanitised" to the tune of $15 million and gathering information on the disbursements was difficult.
Yuille-Williams was in charge of the disbursement of monies, which she called a financial aid fund, geared towards assisting the needy in furthering their education.
She said, "While I proceed with the legal recourse best suited to establishing objective truth and protecting people's integrity, I remain loathe at this stage to disclose much more of the details, inclusive of actual persons and cases who can testify to the rigorous fairness of the processes and to the widespread success of the programme in so far as it was beneficial to them and the wider community."
She admitted that the scholarship fund remained a secret noting that it was in keeping with her ministry's protocol of "discretion" in assisting the needy and not on instructions by former prime minister Patrick Manning to "handle this quietly".
She said the secret fund was a legitimate, Cabinet-approved entity, of which many NGOs were aware.
Yuille-Williams did not deal with accusations that several PNM supporters benefitted from the fund, including some who could not be classified as "needy". However she said the process did not allow for prejudice by those approving applications.
"There were never any instances of applicants being declined on the basis of race, colour, creed, gender, or any of the indicators which would have amounted to unlawful, unconstitutional discrimination," Yuille-Williams stated.
"The official application forms did not even carry a field requiring applicants to state their ethnic origin."
She added: "The (former) prime minister's note to this minister that an application should have been handled 'quietly' was not a directive to be secretive, it was simply in keeping with the Administration's reach for discreetness."
In her statement, Yuille-Williams made direct reference to the EOC report's allegation of sanitising records.
She said, "While I proceed with the legal recourse best suited to establishing objective truth and protecting people's integrity, I remain loathe at this stage to disclose much more of the details, inclusive of actual persons and cases who can testify to the rigorous fairness of the processes and to the widespread success of the programme in so far as it was beneficial to them and the wider community."
She admitted that the scholarship fund remained a secret noting that it was in keeping with her ministry's protocol of "discretion" in assisting the needy and not on instructions by former prime minister Patrick Manning to "handle this quietly".
She said the secret fund was a legitimate, Cabinet-approved entity, of which many NGOs were aware.
Yuille-Williams did not deal with accusations that several PNM supporters benefitted from the fund, including some who could not be classified as "needy". However she said the process did not allow for prejudice by those approving applications.
"There were never any instances of applicants being declined on the basis of race, colour, creed, gender, or any of the indicators which would have amounted to unlawful, unconstitutional discrimination," Yuille-Williams stated.
"The official application forms did not even carry a field requiring applicants to state their ethnic origin."
She added: "The (former) prime minister's note to this minister that an application should have been handled 'quietly' was not a directive to be secretive, it was simply in keeping with the Administration's reach for discreetness."
In her statement, Yuille-Williams made direct reference to the EOC report's allegation of sanitising records.
"If it is found by any person or entity (eg the Equal Opportunity Commission) that a less than perfect one hundred per cent performance was maintained by the ministry, that some documents appear to be not readily available, that some applicants may feel themselves to have been unfairly treated, it is expected that such findings would be regarded as being preliminary; and that both findings and individuals should be treated with the sacred judicial process of 'innocent until proven guilty' rather than by the irresponsible waving of documents, irrational threatening of jail terms, or the irascible conduct of those entrusted with the welfare of all citizens.
"May I warn however, that such a stance of judiciousness should not be taken as one of fear, or a reticence about the merits of matters connected to this fund.
"As soon as the time is considered propitious, I shall be most happy to be even more public. And I will do so with confidence in the honesty of the details and with all the vigour of my personal and professional integrity," she said.
"May I warn however, that such a stance of judiciousness should not be taken as one of fear, or a reticence about the merits of matters connected to this fund.
"As soon as the time is considered propitious, I shall be most happy to be even more public. And I will do so with confidence in the honesty of the details and with all the vigour of my personal and professional integrity," she said.
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