PM: We'll deal with it

The dismissal of the CEO of the Trinidad Tourism Ltd (TTL), Camille Campbell, appears headed to a rift at the board level with some heavy slinging against chairman Janelle Penny Commissiong-Chow, coming from at least two members.

Board member, Solange de Souza, has sent an e-mail to fellow members expressing disgust at the dismissal, while another, Alicia Cabrera, also in an email to the board said she was shocked. Other board members including deputy chair, Dwayne Cambridge, have also begun to call for urgent discussions on the development.

Asked about the situation when he returned from the Caricom Summit in St Lucia late yesterday afternoon, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said he was not aware of the details, but he added,” “I’m aware certain things are happening there. I don’t have all the details. There’s a minister responsible for that.

“One of the things I know is we have to take ownership of whatever is happening there now. That’s what’s going to happen.”

He related how the tourism portfolio had been re-organised in recent years, from the Tourist Board to Tourism Development Company and now to Tourism Trinidad and Tourism Tobago.

“We are expecting that those decisions would be a little more contributory. I don’t think we are there yet. But whatever is happening there we will deal with it. I don’t have all the details, so I couldn’t assist you any further than that, except to say the Government must take ownership of whatever is happening there, and we will find out what’s happening.

“But it is not the first time somebody has been fired. It’s not the first time a board has had issues. These are administrative matters and we will ensure they are properly guided.”

Campbell received her termination letter signed by Commissiong-Chow last week which listed four reasons for the action: that Campbell failed to meet all performance targets, failed to protect TTL from risk and liability, behaved in a manner which called her credibility into question and, intentionally misrepresented the board.

Commissiong-Chow’s letter continued, “The board views the above-mentioned incidents as indicators of your unsuitability to perform the continued role of CEO and have therefore taken the decision to terminate your contract of employment.” Commissiong-Chow also noted that Campbell’s probation ended on April 1, with an unsatisfactory appraisal and she was given an extension to July 1 following a board meeting on April 3. The follow up assessment was also unsatisfactory. The dismissal letter said the decision to terminate was in part fuelled by a review session on June 28 with Campbell, the Human Resource Committee (HRC) and Commissiong-Chow.

De Souza-Ransome noted however that Campbell had made significant strides as CEO and was hampered in “soaring” thanks to the board’s failure to provide her with the staff and training she needed to do her job. In her letter, De Souza Ransome said the last board meeting on June 28 had seven members. Two disagreed that Campbell should be terminated. She added that the confirmation of Campbell’s post was not on the agenda, but the issue was discussed when the board spoke about the confirmation of manager of corporate services Felix Pearson. His confirmation was on the agenda and it was agreed due to a conflict of interest that he be removed. Both De Souza-Ransome and Alicia Cabrera suggested that Campbell be given a three-month extension.

“We both found that although the CEO may not have hit the ground running (and we did not expect any CEO to have initially done so) she made worthy strides and with a bit more staff and the leadership training which we promised, she would have undoubtedly soared,” she wrote.

In her email to the board, Cabrera said the termination was a “blatant misrepresentation of the board” adding that she was shocked by the actions taken.

De Souza-Ransome added that with a full complement of staff Campbell would have been able to better prioritise and focus on specific matters. Campbell was doing the job of "a greater organisation", she wrote, and had the demands of all stakeholders while making partnerships that never existed before. Campbell, the director penned, was placed under unnecessary pressure by the HRC in her first assessment by providing inadequate notice and providing key performance indices which she claimed were given to Campbell but no other board member. The board, De Souza-Ransome wrote, also side-lined most of the incentives which Campbell put forward.

The letter further stated: “We promised the CEO that we would have addressed the inadequacy of staffing and would have delivered self-development and leadership training and such was never provided. Ms Campbell had a strong marketing background. We agreed that we all knew about her limitation in tourism experience before she was hired and now could not depend on that to dismiss. We accepted her other skills and experience and viewed them as assets.”

The tenure of the board expires next month and as a result was advised by Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell to hold their hand on any disciplinary action to be taken. The board had previously agreed that no decision would be taken to dismiss without the board informing Mitchell and before he had a meeting with Campbell. Neither was done.

De Souza-Ransome told the board that the dismissal comes at a time when the board “has been stymied in performing our mandate”. She added that the board also discussed previously the impact of terminating Campbell and rehiring a new CEO adding that it was hard to get Campbell as “not many people suited the post”.

De Souza-Ransome ended her email stating: “I end with a feeling of total disgust at the Board on which I serve. I will remain to ensure that there is a voice of reason and moral where there seems to be a hollow echo of deception and disdain.”

Campbell was fired following a board meeting on June 28. At that meeting were Commissiong-Chow; directors Heather McIntosh-Simon, Thomas Lawrence, Joanna Welch-Gittens, Ian Mohammed, Cabrera and De Souza-Ransome. The other directors, Candice Guppy-Sobion, Siddel Marchan-Jairan, Dennis Ramdeen and deputy chairman Dwayne Cambridge were not at the meeting along with Campbell.

In his letter to the board, Cambridge said he made no mention of Campbell’s confirmation. He added that the confirmation of Campbell’s tenure was not listed on the agenda and had it been he would have made provisions for a conference call as he was out of the country.

Cambridge wrote: “I view the action of the chair and the members of the HRC as reckless and cynical and without the full guidance and or knowledge of the deputy chair. I hereby firmly request an urgently convened meeting of all board members at the soonest to discuss the matter of the termination of the CEO and understood pending termination of Pearson.”

He added that based on advice from Mitchell it was agreed that any termination will be conditional and under Mitchell’s knowledge. He viewed the dismissal as a “total disregard of the request of the minister and by extension the Cabinet.”

Both Cambridge and De Souza-Ransome wrote that the board had already agreed with the termination of Pearson due to a conflict of interest. Pearson’s firing was also put on hold following two letters received by Mitchell which was read to the board at the last meeting. In his letter, Ramdeen, who was not at the board meeting, said he had “grave concerns” that a decision of that magnitude was taken without it being tabled on the agenda of the meeting. He too called for an urgent meeting to address the issue. He also requested that Commissiong-Chow explain the process she used to terminate Campbell’s contract.

Mitchell told Newsday on Friday that it would be imprudent of him to take any action without considering all the facts. He added that the facts must first come to light and that will happen in due course.