THE Integrity Commission’s investigations into the alleged omissions according to the Integrity in Public Life Act by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Keith Rowley needs to be resurrected.
To date, we haven’t heard anything further from the investigations by the Integrity Commission since last year.
No one is asking about this anymore. You would recall that Dr Rowley allegedly did not fill out or did not complete form B correctly. Under the Integrity in Public Life Act Dr Rowley was required to fill out two forms, a confidential Form A, which provides information on the person’s income, assets and liabilities in public life and a Form B, which provides another disclosure of a person’s in public life properties.
This Form B is the one available for public view. However, allegedly he did not fill in that one correctly. The PM denied previously the allegations made by UNC MP Saddam Hosein and basically called the UNC Opposition liars.
You would, however, remember that a previous prime minister Basdeo Panday was arrested for what appears to be a similar error in Integrity Commission filings.
Last year December 2021, Dr Rowley the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, gave a performance of a lifetime where he deflected and dodged all direct questions put in the public domain by the opposition without really addressing the issue of not filling out the Form B under the Integrity in Public Life Act that is required by law.
Who dare question him; he implied that they were ignorant and do not understand business in the real world, the way an expert businessman like himself can negotiate a price of a property and get it at a lower price than what it’s actual market value is.
In an hour of broadcast on the State-owned TTT station he denied all allegations, and waved a piece of paper claiming it’s his undeniable evidence against the Opposition’s claim that he failed to file the information required under the Integrity in Public Life Act.
Displaying this piece of paper and exclaiming that here is the proof that he filed his papers. Apparently, it had worked as no one is asking any more questions on this and everything has gone quiet.
If you remember what came out quite clear though is that he deflected everything, all accusations and innuendos, to date, up to now the PM did not provide a satisfactory response to the questions asked and why he did not disclose the property he bought in Tobago on the Form B that is required by law.
However, when the shoe was on the other foot, a previous PM faced three charges under the Integrity in Public Life Act of 1987 with failing to declare the assets of the account amounting to approximately $1.6 million held at the National Westminster Bank at Wimbledon Hill Road, London, for the years ending 1997, 1998 and 1999 while he was prime minister.
The former prime minister Basdeo Panday had made history when he went to jail for this matter after he faced his first trial before former Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls in 2006.
This led to a guilty verdict and the maximum sentence of two years in prison on each of the charges. The case eventually went in Panday’s favour on appeal and a dark cloud of corruption was lifted from this masterful politician when he was eventually acquitted of charges of failing to declare the assets of a London-based bank account.
What we see now is a completely different story for a different prime minister. A man clearly on the edge but able to prevent any actions being taken against him or his administration and where he’s somehow able to convince everyone that he’s beyond reproach, that his integrity is beyond question.
At the end of it all we the average citizens know the phrase well, “we are all equal but some of us are more equal than others.”
How could we treat one PM with such disdain and throw the book at him but when another PM allegedly commits a similar act he’s not hounded by the media to answer questions nor anything heard from the Integrity Commission?
Neil Gosine is an insurance executive, the North East Regional Coordinator of the United National Congress and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He also holds a Masters in Business Administration. The comments and opinions expressed by him in this column are not necessarily those of AZPNews.com, a division of Complete Image Limited.
A Different Story for a Different Prime Minister
THE Integrity Commission’s investigations into the alleged omissions according to the Integrity in Public Life Act by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Keith Rowley needs to be resurrected.
To date, we haven’t heard anything further from the investigations by the Integrity Commission since last year.
No one is asking about this anymore. You would recall that Dr Rowley allegedly did not fill out or did not complete form B correctly. Under the Integrity in Public Life Act Dr Rowley was required to fill out two forms, a confidential Form A, which provides information on the person’s income, assets and liabilities in public life and a Form B, which provides another disclosure of a person’s in public life properties.
This Form B is the one available for public view. However, allegedly he did not fill in that one correctly. The PM denied previously the allegations made by UNC MP Saddam Hosein and basically called the UNC Opposition liars.
You would, however, remember that a previous prime minister Basdeo Panday was arrested for what appears to be a similar error in Integrity Commission filings.
Last year December 2021, Dr Rowley the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, gave a performance of a lifetime where he deflected and dodged all direct questions put in the public domain by the opposition without really addressing the issue of not filling out the Form B under the Integrity in Public Life Act that is required by law.
Who dare question him; he implied that they were ignorant and do not understand business in the real world, the way an expert businessman like himself can negotiate a price of a property and get it at a lower price than what it’s actual market value is.
In an hour of broadcast on the State-owned TTT station he denied all allegations, and waved a piece of paper claiming it’s his undeniable evidence against the Opposition’s claim that he failed to file the information required under the Integrity in Public Life Act.
Displaying this piece of paper and exclaiming that here is the proof that he filed his papers. Apparently, it had worked as no one is asking any more questions on this and everything has gone quiet.
If you remember what came out quite clear though is that he deflected everything, all accusations and innuendos, to date, up to now the PM did not provide a satisfactory response to the questions asked and why he did not disclose the property he bought in Tobago on the Form B that is required by law.
However, when the shoe was on the other foot, a previous PM faced three charges under the Integrity in Public Life Act of 1987 with failing to declare the assets of the account amounting to approximately $1.6 million held at the National Westminster Bank at Wimbledon Hill Road, London, for the years ending 1997, 1998 and 1999 while he was prime minister.
The former prime minister Basdeo Panday had made history when he went to jail for this matter after he faced his first trial before former Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls in 2006.
This led to a guilty verdict and the maximum sentence of two years in prison on each of the charges. The case eventually went in Panday’s favour on appeal and a dark cloud of corruption was lifted from this masterful politician when he was eventually acquitted of charges of failing to declare the assets of a London-based bank account.
What we see now is a completely different story for a different prime minister. A man clearly on the edge but able to prevent any actions being taken against him or his administration and where he’s somehow able to convince everyone that he’s beyond reproach, that his integrity is beyond question.
At the end of it all we the average citizens know the phrase well, “we are all equal but some of us are more equal than others.”
How could we treat one PM with such disdain and throw the book at him but when another PM allegedly commits a similar act he’s not hounded by the media to answer questions nor anything heard from the Integrity Commission?
Neil Gosine is an insurance executive, the North East Regional Coordinator of the United National Congress and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He also holds a Masters in Business Administration. The comments and opinions expressed by him in this column are not necessarily those of AZPNews.com, a division of Complete Image Limited.