JSC hits head of public utilities

Joint Select Committee (JSC) chairman, Independent Senator Parvatee Anmolsingh-Mahabir, has criticised Ministry of Public Utilities and the Environment Permanent Secretary, Earl Nesbitt, for his delay in supplying data which he had previously promised. “I must record my alarm, concern and disapproval at the delay. Mr Nesbitt, you barely escaped censure.” The rebuke came yesterday as the parliamentary body continued its public hearings at the Red House into the operations of the agencies of the Ministry. Anmolsingh-Mahabir complained that Nesbitt had only given documents on the spending allocations of the National Social Development Programme (NSDP) to the JSC yesterday morning which was too late for members to examine. This delay, she warned, could set a bad precedent for other public servants facing committees of Parliament.

The hearing began with Nesbitt defending his delay in giving information he had promised at the last JSC meeting two months prior, on September 20.  He blamed the delay on staff shortages, the National Budget, and the fact that he had only been appointed in August and so had a “burning desire” to ensure the information was “correct, accurate and complete.” But citing the Hansard of the last JSC sitting, Anmolsingh-Mahabir slammed: “Mr Nesbitt, you gave a public commitment to submit these written responses to the Committee within 14 days as stipulated by the standing orders. This delay is an insult to the constitutional role and mandate of this JSC which is under the Constitution and pursuant to the standing orders of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago.”

She underlined the point by quoting Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice saying: “Disobedience to the order of a committee made within its authority is a contempt of the House by which the committee was appointed... To prevent, delay, obstruct or interfere with the execution of the orders of either House or its committees is also contempt.” May’s also said individuals could be held in contempt of Parliament for disobeying its committees. Nesbitt’s delay, she said, could be “interpreted as a clear attempt to frustrate and stultify the work of this JSC.” She warned that public officers were custodians of public property which they held in trust. The delay and the submission of the information in bits and pieces, she said, amounted to a denial of information to the general public. “The Ministry cannot operate in secret.”

The public utilities existed, she said, to serve people at minimal cost. “Many citizens have voiced their concerns and complain about the maladministration and mismanagement of our public utilities. “Refusing to allow scrutiny by this JSC at a public hearing, simply justifies and reinforces this growing perception of a lack of transparency and integrity in the administration and management of our public utilities.” Any wilful obstruction of the work of the JSCs, she warned, would set a dangerous precedent that other public officers might follow, and could render the JSCs impotent, to the detriment of the general public.