Court to decide on request for information on forex

A final decision in a legal battle waged by the director of Ramsaran Dairy Products (RDP) over his inability to source foreign exchange (forex) and its distribution is anticipated by March 2025.

Rajnanan Ramsaran, founder of local beverage producer RDP, has complained about the lack of access to foreign exchange.

On July 19, Justice Joan Charles permitted him to pursue his challenge after his requests for information on the distribution of foreign exchange were refused.

Ramsaran has argued that foreign exchange in Trinidad and Tobago was not being equally distributed.

In a freedom-of-information request, through his attorney Richard Jaggasar, he wanted to know the policies surrounding the distribution of foreign exchange issued by the Central Bank, which governs the distribution of foreign exchange at the commercial banks.

In a belated response, the ministry said the requested documents could not be supplied because they “do not exist.”

Ramsaran alleges the ministry failed to respond to his request promptly, breaching its statutory obligation under section 15 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The beverage producer also believes the information exists.

At a hearing on November 18, Jaggasar pressed for a declaration that section 15 of the FOIA had been breached, since the ministry accepted its response was late. He also complained that the ministry was guilty of breaching confidentiality by providing at least 30 other FOIA requests and maintained the response that the documents do not exist was inadequate.

Although Senior Counsel Russell Martineau said granting a declaration now was useless, he also dismissed the confidentiality argument, saying the other FOIA requests were provided as part of the ministry’s duty of candour. He said the other requests were provided to show that the ministry had other requests and was working on gathering the information. Martineau said the argument was irrelevant and immaterial.

In the end, Charles said she would allow each side to file brief submissions on the alleged section 15 delay, the adequacy of the ministry’s response and the confidentiality argument, as she said nothing prevented Jaggasar from making submissions on it.

Jaggasar also asked the judge to take judicial notice of the recent public outcry on the forex crisis.

Charles said she hoped the matter could be disposed of by March 12, 2025, the date she set for giving an oral decision. However, she said after receiving submissions, if she thinks her ruling should be in writing, that date will be vacated and the attorneys will be informed.

Ramsaran sought judicial intervention after his requests for foreign exchange to import paper-based cartons for a new water product were repeatedly denied.

In October, Ramsaran wrote to several entities, including the Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Auditor General and the Opposition Leader asking for their intervention.