New Integrity Commission follows old

He was speaking to reporters minutes after being sworn in at President’s House by President George Maxwell Richards who thanked the past and present commissioners. Other members sworn in yesterday were Peter Clarke, Brian Nicholson, and Justice Monica Barnes, with President Richards saying he was seeking out a fifth commissioner as mandated by the Integrity in Public Life Act and whom he hoped to appoint soon.

Martin said the new board will not change the Commission’s operations. “We will continue as we are. I have been there from when the first Integrity Commission started, so we will continue in the same vein, but we are now putting in a new system that would enhance our production.”

Was the Commission working up to mark despite yearly never spending its annual budget? “Yes we are. We are looking at new staff now. Our new system requires additional staff, which is what we are seeking to obtain.”

Martin said the Commission could legally function and have a quorum with just four of its five members. “In fact we are going to have our first meeting on Monday, as usual.” He had no idea of who would be the fifth member.

Should judges and magistrates comply with the Integrity Act which lists them, but who is to say that it breaches their constitutional independence?

“We have referred it to the court, under the Interpretation Act and we are now waiting for a resolution of that. They haven’t put forward the judgement on that yet, although they have considered it.”

Would he liberalise media access to the workings of the Commission, instead of hiding behind the Integrity Act’s confidentiality clause? “I don’t think so. If we started to ‘liberalise,’ the declarants would be very slow in completing their declarations. They would say ‘if you are going to be talking to the media, I don’t know what you would be leaking to them.’ With that confidentiality, we are getting more responses from them and they are relying more and more on us under the secrecy code.”

He said the Commission would give information on its public education campaign, “but to seek the interests, what’s the assets of individuals and their income, naturally we can’t do that.”

Newsday asked for his assurance that the Commission would become more media-friendly. “ It depends on what is the information you seek. If it is something that doesn’t impinge on the individual’s declarations of his income, we will look at that.”

Asked when would the declarations made in May be available for public scrutiny, he said, “They are available as soon as we receive them. Not only that, but we are now having it computerised where you will be able to see it on a computer. You just ask the name and the year, and we’ll be able to give you that. I think we are in a position nearly to get that.” He said, “We are trying to make Trinidad a more moral place with individuals with greater integrity and less corruption.”

He said the sanctions for non-declarants were now being well enforced.