Chief Secretary: Rowley misleading Tobago on chief administrator

CHIEF Secretary Farley Augustine has accused the PNM of carrying out a “calculated disinformation campaign,” in blaming the THA for the absence of a chief administrator after Ethlyn John’s retirement on May 17.

Deputy Chief Secretary Dr Faith BYisrael first drew attention to the issue on June 9 at a sod-turning ceremony for the Synergy Water Park at Friendship Estate.

In apologising for Augustine’s absence at the event, BYisrael said, “I must indicate that I am standing here today because, unfortunately, the Chief Secretary is unavailable because he has been trying to deal with several emergencies that have come as a result of the Tobago House of Assembly being without a chief administrator for almost a month.”

She added, “Everything that happens as a result of not having a chief administrator, our most senior public servant, he is now trying to manage that and trying to deal with the offshoot of that situation.”

Chief administrators, who are equal in rank to permanent secretaries, are appointed by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

The Prime Minister subsequently addressed the issue at a news conference on June 12, saying the THA was to blame.

He said the assembly had ruled out the next candidate before he was even able to see the recommendation made by the Public Service Commission. Rowley said he later learnt the individual had been suspended over allegations of misconduct.

At a PNM public meeting on Monday at the Calder Hall multipurpose facility, Rowley further accused Augustine of telling untruths. He said he communicated with Augustine on several occasions via phone and WhatsApp, but Augustine never let on that the person who was to be appointed had been suspended.

Rowley said he did not intend to have any future discussions with Augustine without a third party present.

He added that the process of appointing a new chief administrator had been slowed by the absence of a deputy PSC chairman.

But in statement at Thursday’s plenary sitting in the Assembly Legislature, Scarborough, Augustine made it clear the THA would not accept blame for the absence of a chief administrator.

“Today, I will uncloak the disinformation campaign against the THA and the people of Tobago, led by the Prime Minister,” he said.

Augustine claimed for over a month, he has been continually trying to have the post filled.

“Today, we are still without a chief administrator.”

Noting the THA Act stipulates that a chief administrator is appointed by the PSC after consultation with the Prime Minister and Chief Secretary, Augustine said, “Madam Presiding Officer (Abby Taylor), to understand how we are at this place of uncertainty with a chief administrator and how deadly, deceitful the leader of the government of this country is, we must go back to what transpired for the filling of the vacancy last year, when Mrs Bernadette Solomon-Koroma retired from that position.”

He said on March 10, 2022, he wrote to the PM indicating “my displeasure with the fact that a chief administrator was appointed without precisely following the dictates of the law.”

Notwithstanding the clear directives in the law, Augustine claimed in the letter that Solomon-Koroma told him Ethlyn John had been appointed to act as chief administrator “prior to any consultation with your good self.”

He claimed Solomon-Koroma told him this led to an administrator moving from  the THA to the position of acting Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Central Administrative Services Tobago (CAST) while a new administrator was selected to serve in the THA.

Augustine claimed he was also told “a formal handover of portfolios happened” on February 22, 2022, “well in advance of any prior consultation as required by law.”

He continued, “Legally and properly, this consultation should have occurred in advance of any appointment on February 28, 2022, and the lateral movement within the public service that ensued. It is therefore difficult to view the consultation post- the appointment of someone to act as chief adminstrator as anything other than an insult to the chief secretary and counter-productive to both of our efforts towards greater autonomy for Tobago.”

In the letter, Augustine said while this may well be not what the office intended, “This is the result of not following the law as prescribed.”