Govt MP ordered to pay

Former energy minister and now parliamentary secretary in the same ministry, Nicole Olivierre has been ordered to pay the National Gas Company’s costs of defending an appeal for disclosure of documents relating to employment practices at the company.

Olivierre, in December 2012, lodged the first of two complaints of racial victimisation against NGC with the Equal Opportunity Commission.

She applied for certain documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) application in 2017, subsequent to her filing a procedural appeal in the Court of Appeal.

Yesterday when the hearing of the appeal came up before Justices Allan Mendonca and Peter Rajkumar, Olivierre withdrew her appeal as she was provided with some of the documents she requested.

Permission was granted to her to withdraw the appeal but her lawyer’s arguments that she not be made to pay costs were rejected.