UNC MP wants clarity over state contract for AG’s wife

Rodney Charles -
Rodney Charles -

NAPARIMA MP Rodney Charles is questioning whether there is a correlation between the “gutting” of the procurement legislation and the state contract awarded to the law firm owned by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s wife.

Noting the recent decision by Cabinet to remove oversight of the procurement office over legal, audit, financial and other service, Charles is now calling on the Government to clear the air.

Given the proximity in time of the decisions, Charles said Cabinet ministers must say whether there is a nexus between them.

In a statement, the Opposition member said he wants to know if: “The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act No. 1 of 2015 was specifically 'gutted' to remove independent scrutiny by the procurement regulator of such services as that provided by a legal firm whose lead partner is the wife of the AG.”

The law firm Al-Rawi, Haynes-Soo Hon and Co recently filed a formal response on behalf of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, which had sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Cabinet.

That matter had to do with the award of national scholarships and bursaries.

Al-Rawi has since told Newsday he had nothing to do with the hiring of his wife’s firm. He said the firm is forbidden to receive work from the Office of the Attorney General but not from other arms of the State.

Charles expressed the opinion that the decision to hire this particular law firm must have been sanctioned by the Cabinet, of which, he underscored, the AG is the second most senior member.

He said he wants to know whether the matter came before the Cabinet and whether the AG recused himself from the Cabinet decision.

He referred to the AG’s recusal “from at least 37 Cabinet decisions involving beneficial interests to himself and/or his relatives.

“Furthermore, how many times has this firm represented the State since this AG has been in office?” he asked

He said employing the AG’s wife’s firm raises troubling moral issues, noting the AG’s response that “there are other Cabinet ministers whose spouses are attorneys who sometimes do work on behalf of the State or certain ministries.”

Charles charged, “This is indeed a very poor justification coming from a government which claims to be a paragon of ethics, virtue, and morality and which came to power promising good governance based on integrity, transparency and accountability.

“Gutting our procurement legislation combined with the award of contracts, involving government ministers, in areas removed from scrutiny can never be an example of good governance and best practice at this time.

He said the PNM administration "should be ashamed of its poor track record on transparency and governance."

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