Planning Ministry gets leave to petition Privy Council

Appeal Court Justices Nolan Bureaux, Gregory Smith and Peter Rajkumar, yesterday granted leave to the State to challenge the two previous rulings in which the courts found that the Ministry of Planning’s decision to refuse publication of the information was null and void, and of no effect.

The judicial review lawsuit was filed in 2013 by then president of the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) Afra Raymond under the Freedom of Information Act after he made several requests for information on the project in November 2011.

The ministry had initiated a request for proposals, bypassing the Central Tenders Board, and later told the JCC it sought legal advice from the office of the Attorney General, and had been told the Tenders Board was not required in the tendering process.

Last month, the Appeal Court, in a majority judgment, upheld the decision of High Court judge Justice Frank Seepersad who, in July 2014, found that failure of Government agencies to disclose documents related to procurement of construction projects might create a “perception of misfeasance in the process” and a corresponding loss in public confidence.

“The public interest in having access to the requested information there is far more substantial than the defendant’s interest in attempting to maintain any perceived confidentiality in relation to the said information,” Seepersad had said.

Raymond is seeking the publication of the formal instructions and legal opinions on which the ministry was relying. The JCC is being represented by Senior Counsel Gilbert Peterson, while Russell Martineau, SC, appear for the State.