By Prior Beharry
FIVE weeks after a cyberattack at Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), its Chief Executive Officer Lisa Agard has left the company.
She is replaced by Kent Western, who was General Manager, Customer Experience and Marketing at TSTT.
A release from TSTT on Tuesday stated, “The Board of Directors of Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT) announces the appointment of Mr Kent Western to the post of Chief Executive Officer (Ag) following the departure of Ms Lisa Agard. Mr Western’s appointment will take effect immediately.
“Mr Western is the holder of an MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Anglia Ruskin University, an MBA in Telecommunications from the Telecoms Academy in the United Kingdom, and a post graduate certificate in General Management. He brings a wealth of leadership experience to the position, having held senior executive roles in the local, regional, and international telecommunications industry, always with a focus on commercial operations and customer experience.
“Prior to his appointment, Mr Western was TSTT’s General Manager, Customer Experience and Marketing.
“The Board welcomes and congratulates Mr Western on his appointment and wishes him every success in his new role.”
In the cyberattack 6GB or less than 1% of the petabytes of the company’s data was accessed and posted on the dark web. Among the information released was that of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, but this was denied by Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales.
And Oropouche West MP Dave Tancoo said this was not enough.
In a statement, minutes after the announcement, Tanco said, “While customers of TSTT whose information was leaked onto the public domain as a result of a recent cyberattack may feel vindicated by the recent removal of TSTT CEO Lisa Agard,”
He said although this may seem a step in the right direction, “it is not enough.”
Tancoo said Gonzales must release the report on which TSTT took action.
He said the entire Board of Directors of TSTT must tender their resignations forthwith, “as they are part and parcel of the executive that failed to prevent the exposure of TSTT’s customers private data.”
Tancoo, who is also Chairman of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, said, “This is just a very small step in the right direction, but it is a far cry from proper accountability, as there have been several recent instances of grave financial misappropriation, deliberately overlooked by this Government and covered up through distraction. Let us not forget the $400 million debt incurred through the reckless investment by two years ago by the National Gas Company (NGC) into Atlantic LNG Train 1 ($200 million) and the Beachfield project ($200 million).”
He said, “Our citizens, who are the ultimate shareholders of NGC, should have taken great personal offense at the flippant response by NGC’s President Mark Loquan and the feeble cover up by then Chairman Conrad Enil, who not only failed to apologize to the taxpayers, but even attempted to rubbish investigative reports revealing the Government’s $400 million blunder. There is no excuse or blame that this PNM Government could ever find to remove the stain of that $400 million that they have defrauded taxpayers of Trinidad and Tobago, with no one being held accountable for it.”
