‘Why was Environmental Commission boss axed?’

THE DECISION of the Cabinet not to re-appoint retired Justice Zainool Hosein as chairman of the Environmental Commission and to appoint two female lawyers with political connections is now the subject of a judicial review application filed in the Port-of-Spain High Court. The Trinidad and Tobago Civil Rights Association filed the application on behalf of 30 villagers who live near to the Forres Park garbage dump and who are affected by the activities at the dump. The villagers are seeking judicial review of the decision of the Cabinet not to re-appoint Justice Hosein as chairman of the Environmental Commission. They also want judicial review of the decision of Cabinet to appoint Sandra Paul as the chairman, and Indira Maharaj-Ramrekersingh as the deputy chairman of the Commission.

The villagers contend that the appointments of Paul and Ramrekersingh were made with improper political motives and amounted to an abuse of power. Sandra Paul, they argued, is the daughter of former People’s National Movement (PNM) Mayor of Port-of-Spain Ethelbert ‘Telly’ Paul, while Indira Maharaj-Ramrekersingh is the wife of former deputy political leader of the PNM, Augustus Ramrekersingh, who was also a Minister in the previous PNM government. Justice Hosein was appointed Chairman of the Commission in 2000 during the term of the UNC government. T
he other members were Sandra Paul, vice-chairman, Eugene Laurent, Anne Marie Sirju, and Dr Judith Gobin.

Before the term of office of members of the Commission expired in October 2003, Justice Hosein spoke by telephone to the Permanent Secretary. He also addressed a letter to the Minister recommending that he and the other members were willing to serve another term at the Commission. When the term of office of the members expired on October 29, 2003, there was no functioning Commission. Justice Hosein wrote to President George Maxwell Richards on December 17 about the state of abeyance of the Commission.