NGO CEO,senator clash over JSC questioning

CEO of the Adult Literacy Tutors Association Paula Lucie-Smith took issue with independent senator Hazel Thompson-Ahye over questions aimed at advocacy groups during the sitting of joint select committee on Friday.

The meeting, on on human rights and equality, took place at the Cabildo Building, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain.

The exchange began when committee member Thompson-Ahye questioned vice chairman of the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) Shereen Baksh over why the centre had not expanded the reach of its organisation outside San Fernando to provide a wider network of services for disabled people.

She said, "I'm a little concerned that over the years the organisation has not come out of San Fernando and reached the rest of the community. You have been doing excellent work over the years but there are a number of areas in TT with community centres and I'm wondering why you couldn't link up with some of those centres to provide the service."

Baksh said while she noted the concern, such a move would require significant financial investment.

Later Lucie-Smith raised the issue in response to another question, lamenting the accusatory tone of questions used towards the officials who she said were already operating at full capacity.

"The tone of the questions are very interesting in that somehow – we are here trying to be held accountable for the work we are doing, vastly underpaid, vastly under-resourced – and somehow you are asking the NCPD why they don't provide services in Port of Spain.

"I'm not sure that is an appropriate question to ask the NCPD, unless someone is stepping forward and giving them a building or resources to do that, because they have a model that can certainly be replicated. So I think we need to think about what we are doing here in this committee."

Thompson-Ahye, however, defended her question, saying the purpose of the sitting was to look at ways the committee could help the agencies in carrying out their purposes.