Government will not undertake a probe into legal fees paid to attorneys hired by the Office of the Attorney General over the past four years, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has said.
Instead, she said, Attorney General Garvin Nicholas will lay a reply to correct the legal fee imbroglio in Parliament when he returns from overseas soon.
She confirmed this position yesterday, in Parliament, in reply to questions from Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley about the likelihood of an enquiry in the wake of the controversy over the matter.
Persad-Bissessar said there would be no enquiry since the AG had accounted for the fees, inclusive of breakdown, and had also indicated that 95 per cent of the cases undertaken in which external legal counsel was retained have been won by the State. She said a billion dollars had been received for some of the matters for which counsel was retained.
Rowley asked whether the Fraud Squad would be called in to investigate, given the significant discrepancies associated with the $400 million expenditure on legal fees at the AG’s office.
The PM said, “No.”
She added, “The allegations against the fees have been made to issues of quantum. There have been no allegations of fraud, so the issue of fraud doesn’t arise.”
She said if the Opposition had information otherwise, Government would be happy to examine it, but thus far there were no allegations of fraud.
Rowley said some people had said they did not receive the monies initially reported to have been paid to them.
But Persad-Bissessar said that was when the original answer was tabled.
“Thereafter, the Attorney General did clarify those matters of persons who seemed to have double payment...it’s our intention for the AG to lay the corrected reply to the question in Parliament. He’s out of T&T and will do so on his return.”
She said it was obvious the original answers and information thereafter were not exactly the same.
“You may want to use the word ‘discrepancy’” she added, saying she was satisfied with the explanation on the expenditure.
On another question, this time concerning action on the March 23 national roadblocks by police, Persad-Bissessar said Government had asked for swift action to obtain the report on the roadblocks which had affected national productivity and caused “untold damage to national revenues and the commercial sector—and we consider such action unacceptable.” She said the report was done in three weeks and the Government was satisfied it was professionally done.
In terms of action to be taken, the PM said any subsequent action must be taken by the Police Service, acting Police Commissioner and the Police Service Commission, an independent body which has jurisdiction over police matters. She said the report was discussed at Thursday’s National Security Council meeting.
“We asked the police representatives there—the acting CoP and her deputy—to say what areas of action they would pursue,” she said.
“They did advise they’d be looking at the matters going to the internal investigation units and also looking towards, where necessary, disciplinary action against such officers who may have in any way acted outside of their constitutional legal powers and the police service regulations governing behaviour in service. So we await the action taken where they have the power and the jurisdiction to deal with these matters.”
Persad-Bissessar said, however, that the exercise was not done by the entire Police Service.
“Let’s not blame the whole service, it was just a few officers who acted on their own initiative,” she said.
Asked by PNM MP Terrence Deyalsingh if she felt the CoP had disregarded the National Security Minister, she said the minister could not instruct the CoP, but could have discussions since the Police Service was independent.