None above the law
THE EDITOR: I could not disagree more with those who think that we are developing a "privileged class" of citizens in our society who have come to their collective senses and refuse to divulge their assets to the Integrity Commission because they don’t need the "government work." How ludicrous! The people who support such a notion would be the very same people complaining about "dem tiefing we money," if there were not a requirement for such persons sitting in these high positions to declare their assets/liabilities. No one is forcing anyone to serve on state boards, the senate or the judiciary. Everyone knows the requirements for filling these positions, and if they take one of them, then, they must be prepared to follow the law. No if, ands or buts. So I am in total agreement with Senator Dana Seetahal in her decision not to be part of the other senators who wrote to the President for exemptions to filing under the act. She did the right thing. If you exempt the senators and the judges, who next will be requesting an exemption? Before you know it the law would become meaningless. In my opinion, the TT integrity laws should be toughened, not watered down to please "certain people" or rescinded by the government. TT politics has a perception of corruption in the world; let’s not make it more a reality. And with the country now awash with petro dollars, if we are not careful, we would return to the bad old days of our money being shipped off to the USA, Canada and Panama and other money havens around the world, never to be seen again. So, no let up on integrity in public office. The Integrity Commission should enforce the present law and if necessary, the government should amend it to make it tougher for potential crooks to swindle us. The government should also add provisions to the law that would protect peoples’ right to have their personal financial information remain private and impose stiff penalties for anyone (presumably from within the commission) who divulges that information to unauthorised persons. But don’t do away with the law. We need it now more than ever. KELVIN C JAMES SR USA
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"None above the law"