Dookeran tells Govt to publicise foreign affairs

Dookeran, who was responding to a Bill entitled "An Act to give effect to the Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement between Caricom and the government of Cuba," said the agendas and the Trinidad and Tobago Government position on the issues being discussed should be made public.

This sparked an outburst from Trade and Industry Minister, Ken Valley, who asked if there had been such transparency from 1986 to 1991, when he (Dookeran) had been in Government.

However, Dookeran insisted that even if it was not done then, there was no justification in it not being done now. He said this was 2005, a period in which there was going to be greater public participation in foreign affairs issues, adding that there should be more accountability. Referring to the Commonwealth of Heads of Government meetings which Prime Minister Patrick Manning was attending in Malta, Dookeran said the scant information provided to the population was a clear indication of the contempt with which foreign affairs was being conducted in Trinidad and Tobago. In this world of transparency and accountability, Dookeran said, he could not understand what difficulty the Prime Minister had in being open in his dialogue on foreign issues.

According to Dookeran, many major decisions were made during these meetings, which influence the lives of citizens of this country, yet we have no idea what the talks are about and what the Government’s position is on the issues.

Dookeran said even the Prime Minister’s discussions during a recent meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, were kept secret. "All we hear is that he was there to discuss crime," Dookeran said.