AG apologises to House

ATTORNEY General Reginald Armour, SC, apologised unreservedly in the House of Representatives on Wednesday for comments he made to its Standing Finance Committee on May 5.

"Mea culpa," he told MPs as he explained the comments he made on that day.

Armour recalled that he was responding to comments from Barataria/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein that he did not provide information on legal fees paid to local and foreign attorneys engaged by the Ministry of the AG and Legal Affairs.

"I responded at the time with reference to documents which had been provided to me and were in my possession in the Parliament during the Standing Finance Committee’s discussions."

Armour said in doing so he "inadvertently and incorrectly stated that the breakdown of fees for the period June 19 , 2021-March 3, 2023 had been provided to the Parliament."

He added that he "mistakenly relied" on information in a document that was sent to UNC activist Ravi Balgobin-Maharaj in response to a freedom of information request which Maharaj sent to his ministry.

"I take full responsibility for that inadvertent error.
'This error was neither deliberate nor intended to mislead this Honourable House."

Hosein previously raised a matter of privilege against Armour with respect to this matter.

At the start of the sitting, Deputy Speaker Esmond Forde said he would rule on Hosein's complaint later in the proceedings.

While Armour was making his apology, Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh made some inaudible complaints about him.

Forde ordered Indarsingh to leave the chamber and return when Armour had finished speaking.