In a time of great uncertainty and lack of trust in our nation’s highest office holders, recent events have told us much about the Government’s approach to transparency, accountability and its poor attitude towards legitimate public interest in the conduct of Government officials.
First there was the public outcry involving our Ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS) objecting to hurricane-ravaged Dominica’s request for a temporary waiver of its fees to the OAS.
According to our Ambassador, our country’s position was a deferral of payment of fees, together with a payment plan.
The assistance rendered by us to Dominica after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria was lost in the flurry of statements of outrage which followed the revelation of what had actually happened at the OAS meeting.
Immediately following that revelation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a statement that the position stated by the Ambassador was, “not aligned with the actions, policy or orientation of Trinidad and Tobago towards Dominica”. Embarrassingly, that assertion by the Ministry that the Ambassador had misrepresented our country’s policy was then shown to be untrue by leaked memos which showed that the
Ambassador was in fact acting as directed and in accordance with the policy of the Ministry and the Government.
The misrepresentation by the Ministry and by extension the Foreign Affairs Minister, showed disregard and disrespect for the goodly Ambassador and the public. To date, the Minister has so far avoided
resignation or firing, and it will be interesting to see how the Prime Minister deals with the report from the Minister on the “OAS mishap” (as it is now being described by the Government).
Then there was the controversy surrounding the $150,000 settlement in a matter in the Industrial Court brought by a female worker who had been fired from the Ministry of Sport and who had alleged that before termination she had been sexually harassed by a senior Ministry official.
The Industrial Relations Act requires that the parties in the case had to be a trade union acting on behalf of the aggrieved worker, and the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) representing the Government. This was not a sexual misconduct lawsuit but the termination of employment being challenged by the worker.
In such a case there is nothing unusual about the matter being settled and the worker paid fair compensation for being fired in breach of good industrial relations practice and procedure. It is the signing of a non-disclosure agreement by the parties to the court case which has raised eyebrows, because the specific allegations of sexual harassment, as well as the identity of the alleged harasser, are being hidden from the public who pays the alleged harasser’s salary and who must now pay $150,000 of taxpayers’ money as compensation.
Government’s insistence through the AG and Minister Young that all of this is the usual practice where court matters are settled, suggests that they are intent on keeping hidden allegations which may possibly be damaging to their Government. This is wrong. It is unfair to keep the public in the dark about possible inappropriate conduct by those it pays, and it is not unreasonable for the public to believe that some kind of cover up has been achieved using taxpayers’ money.
Finally there was the civil (not criminal) matter involving Minister Dillon in New York (NY), and settled in court on Wednesday. By the court sealing the proceedings the public’s right to know has been frustrated.
The statement by the Minister that the NY court has authorised him to reveal that no “finding of wrongdoing” has been made against him is another example of the Government’s playing with words, because obviously there cannot be a finding of wrongdoing if a case is settled before trial. (This is not to suggest that Minister Dillon has done anything wrong).
That being said, it is this lack of transparency and accountability that continue to plague this government, as it did their predecessor. If they do not wish to suffer the same fate, their approach to these matters and the like must change.
Mickela Panday
