Ex-SSA director will not know why he was fired

FORMER Strategic Services Agency (SSA) director retired Major Roger Best will not immediately know why he was fired.

This is because the information he requested from National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds is exempt under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

However, he will be provided within the week with information relating to the authority used for his dismissal; documents on salary during his employment in the Volunteer Defence Force (VDF); and evidence of his attendance for duty in the VDF.

What is exempted by a legal notice sparing the SSA from the Freedom of Information Act is his request for information that he was interviewed before he was fired and the reasons for it.

Best will now have to either challenge the exemption or file a separate claim seeking answers.

At a hearing on October 16, Senior Counsel Rishi Dass, who represents the minister, said his team received instructions to "determine the request." He said items one and two were exempt, while three, four and five could be granted, and the ministry was compiling the information for disclosure within the week.

Best’s attorney Arden Williams was given time to take instructions on his client’s next move. However, he said he did not believe the exemption applied to the request.

Justice Joan Charles adjourned the matter to November 8, at which time Williams will indicate his client’s position and discuss the issue of costs.

Best, through his attorney, sought answers on his dismissal in an FOI request on July 12.

He was sent on immediate administrative leave on March 2.

He and 27 other SSA operatives were summarily dismissed between March and May on the basis of the contents of a confidential Special Branch report reviewed by the National Security Council (NSC), which is chaired by the prime minister.

Best was arrested on May 16, and in a media release on May 18, Hinds revealed a Cabinet decision that advised the acting President to “terminate the appointment of Major (Ret’d) Roger Best as director of the SSA with immediate effect.”

When he did not get a response, he approached the High Court for answers. His lawsuit contended he had been effectively denied all the information sought in respect of his request.

The lawsuit also contended Hinds had not given a reason for not complying with his obligations under the FOIA and had breached his statutory duty.

In early March, after he was sent on administrative leave, Dr Rowley, as head of the NSC, recalled retired Brig Gen Anthony Phillips-Spencer – then ambassador to the US – to replace Best at the helm of the SSA. Rowley cited an impending threat to national security as the reason for this decision.

In a statement to Parliament on July 3 – according to a Newsday report dated July 4 – the PM revealed for the first time details of Phillips-Spencer's audit, which painted "an alarming state of affairs" that went undetected for years under the PNM administration.

Best’s removal from office took place after Rowley returned from a trip to Washington, DC, where he met with the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other top US intelligence officials.

In a later statement, Rowley claimed state agencies had become one with criminal elements. On July 3, he said the audit by Phillips-Spencer found the agency was being run under the influence of a religious cult comprising highly-trained military operators on a treasonous mission to overthrow the Government.

In an interview with Sunday Newsday, Best insisted he was not an enemy of the State. He also said he believed his dismissal stemmed from his “resistance to political influence.”

Mariah Ramrattan also represents Best. Attorney Raphael Adjodhia also appears for the minister.