Government suing government...only in sweet Trinidad and Tobago

THE EDITOR: If you live long enough, you get to see some unusual things. But a government suing itself must rank close to the top of the list.

"We have to look at our ownership in TSTT to ensure there is a Chinese wall between TSTT, government's ownership and the regulatory body, so they can be treated as any other provider of service in the country and remove the fear that government's ownership would be used to influence the authority." (Lenny Saith; Hansard, page 447. May 18, 2004.

The government via the National Enterprises Limited (NEL) owns 51 per cent of TSTT's shares while foreign-based Cable and Wireless owns 49 percent.

On December 30, 2015, TSTT entered into a contract with the Ministry of National Security to launch 800 CCTV cameras and four regional command centres. No price was given for this. Some 1,673 CCTV cameras were in operation by the beginning of 2016. The contract expired on July 1, 2017.

In January 2019, minister Stuart Young announced that TSTT was charging the govt between $11k-$14k per camera, per month and that government was not renewinig the contract.

Between 2019 and 2020 TSTT filed a claim for $750 million from government. The govt responded by trying to settle, in July 2020, for $200 million but got no reply from TSTT.

To muddy the waters further, in September 2020, the govt awarded an $80 million CCTV contract to a TSTT competitor. One set of bacchanal and comess then followed.

In December 2022, TSTT sued the state seeking almost $1 billion in compensation for CCTV services.

Do we understand what is happening here? A company that is 51 percent owned by government is suing the government. A classic case of himself to himself. This matter is ongoing.

On November 15, 2016, UNC activist Ravi Balgobin Maharaj asked TSTT for some information. TSTT denied his request by saying that it was not a public company. On December 4, 2018, the High Court held that TSTT was a public company. TSTT appealed that ruling.

On July 29, 2022, the Appeal Court also ruled that TSTT was a public company.

Why has it taken Cable and Wireless, ten years and counting, to dispose of its 49 percent shareholding in TSTT? In 2015, the Telecommunications Authority (TATT) gave Cable and Wireless one year to sell its shares. Cable and Wireless has stated that getting a buyer for its 49 per cent shareholding has proven to be difficult.

Nine years later, nothing has happened.

Fast forward to June 2024 where we see Minister of Youth Development and National Service Foster Cummings vowing publicly to sue his employer, the government.

One must surmise that Cummings would have had some serious discussions and gotten approval from his boss, before embarking on such a mission. If he did not, surely he would have been suspended or removed as a minister by now.

Is it any wonder that regardless of whoever is in office, lawyers will always "eat ah food" in this country?

LINUS F. DIDIER

Mt Hope