We made mistakes in our first year, AG Ramlogan tells Senate

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan admitted in the Senate Tuesday that the People's Partnership Government made mistakes in its first year in office.

However he said the members of the government have shown humility in the way they dealt with those mistakes.

He said the new government's style was in direct contrast to "the sheer arrogance" that was characteristic of the past administration for the past eight years.
 
"The population will know 'to err is human' but that statement itself, coming from a Government, means that our feet are firmly planted on the ground," he stated.

The AG also spoke about a new style of governance in which the present administration has discarded the culture of 'Acting Appointments' in high offices.

Ramlogan said the PNM also had its fair share of mistakes, including the failure to confirm former Acting Police Commissioner, James Philbert, and then Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Carla Browne-Antoine.

He added that the previous government only offered an acting appointment to DPP Roger Gaspard, whom he has described as a man of immense integrity.

"We have done away with that culture of 'Acting Appointment' in serious high office because if we have to fight the gangs and if we have to fight the criminal culture, we must put people who have security of tenure and who can actually take decisions," Ramlogan said.

The Atttorney General acknowledged that the Government took suggestions from both Opposition and Independent Senators on how to improve both the Anti-Gang and Bail Amendment Bills, which passed in the Senate Tuesday.