In defiance of the expressed wishes and actions of the Government, the President and the Attorney General, UDeCOTT is moving to permanently shut down the work of the Commission of Enquiry into the construction sector and to frustrate any possibility of the Commissioners being able to produce a report and present conclusions.

It is understood that last Friday, UDeCOTT moved to file for judicial review. The state company, which has been under intense public scrutiny for alleging breaching procurement proceedings, has prepared a 36-page claim and a 57-page affidavit, filed by chief operation officer, Neehanda Rampaul, in support of its action.

The action, political observers say, would be a major embarrassment for the Government which, through its Attorney General John Jeremie, told the Parliament a week and a half ago, that Government had a ’solemn duty’ to protect and salvage the Commission, which had been set at ’was set up at the behest of the Government, arising out of a commitment of the Honourable Prime Minister and that of the entire Cabinet to the highest principles of transparency and integrity’ in public office.

UDeCOTT is a wholly owned state company, whose only shareholder is the Corporation Sole, (Minister of Finance). Sources asked yesterday how can a state agency challenge the decision of the Cabinet which has set up the Commission and has taken action to protect it, and the President, acting on the advice of the Cabinet.

UDeCOTT in its application is asking for interim relief until the hearing of the matter. Among other things it is seeking an order prohibiting the Commissioners for holding any further hearings of the ’purported’ Commission of Enquiry. UDeCOTT is also seeking an order that the Commissioners deliver up or in the case of documents provided electronically all documents provided to them by UDeCOTT in compliance with the orders of the Commission.

This order flies directly in the face of the directions of the President in the Gazette dated September 14 in which he gave a direction to the Commission to use records and documents gathered since September 9, 2008 to September 11, 2009.

UDeCOTT is also seeking an order that the Commissioners do remove or cause to remove from the Commission’s website all documents provided to them by UDeCOTT in accordance with the orders of the Commission.

The grounds on which UDeCOTT is relying are the alleged bias of former Commissioner, Israel Khan, who its says has a racial bias and the bias of Commissioner Kenneth Sirju who it said had a relationship with NHIC.

It is also basing its application on the non-gazetting of the Commission. Notice of the Commission, which began hearings in September 2008, had not been published in the Gazette as required by law until September 11, 2009.

UDeCOTT is also pointing to the non-passage of the Validating Statute, notwithstanding the Attorney General telling the Parliament that the Government was committed to passing the Validation Act. Government plans to bring the Act to Parliament as soon as the budget debate is over.

Legal sources said UDeCOTT received legal advice from British QC Geoffrey Robertson that nothing can be done to cure the legal defect of the Commission not having been gazette at the start of the proceedings.

But the Attorney General, it is understood, has received advice to the contrary from several attorneys, including Jamaican QC and constitutional lawyer, Lloyd Barnett.

Accordingly, Jeremie told Parliament that Government would ’take all legitimate steps to regularise this situation so that the commissioners may complete their assigned task on behalf of the people of Trinidad and Tobago’.

He said the commissioners had devoted a significant amount of time to the collection of evidence and other material, the Government had expended significant resources (which sources put at over $30 million thus far), the public was entitled to legitimately expect a full report and recommendations (from the enquiry), and persons who have made allegations and about whom allegations have been made, were entitled to have a determination of the issues one way or the other.

He also noted that the , that the full terms of reference of the commission would be gazetted, along with an amendment aimed at permitting the commissioners to use the evidence and other information collected during the course of the hearings.

Furthermore, he said, ’to take the matter beyond argument’, Government would also bring to Parliament ’as a matter of urgency’, a Validation Act ’to give statutory underpinning to the previous acts of the commission’.

He added that the act had already been drafted by him on the instructions of the Cabinet. But even before the act comes to Parliament, its validity is being challenged. Jeremie stressed that in making its decision, Government was guided by three principles-

a) the respect for the rule of law and the principles of transparency;

b) a respect for the principles protective of the rights of persons alleged to be wrong-doers;

c) the necessity of the State to do what is right by the people at all times.