Representatives from business, civil, social and labour bodies have come together to demand the Government break its collective silence on how and why Section 34 of the Amendment to the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act, 2011 came into force.

In a joint statement media conference yesterday the informal amalgamation of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC), Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI), the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGO's (FITUN), Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA) and Fixin' T&T called for the Prime Minister explain to the country what led to the fiasco of the now repealed Act.

The group is adamant that they will not let this issue go unanswered and will not let it fade away as a "nine-day wonder".

Deryck Murray, head of TTTI, chaired the media briefing at his office in the Fernandes Compound in Laventille yesterday, said while each entity has made individual statements, they expected a joint call to have a bigger impact.

"The country must take notice and must expect our leaders to take the lead and start addressing these issues," Murray said.

Murray said the group expected a response "immediately".

The group called also called for Bernard Report into the Piarco Airport project to be immediately published and for the Uff recommendations to be implemented as promised in 2010.

Afra Raymond, head of the JCC, yesterday said "we are going to stay on it".

"The point about it is that people feel they don't have to answer," he said.

Raymond questioned the "priorities of Parliament", saying that in the midst of all of this negative fall out, they remained on holiday. He said one month ago Parliament convened for two days to debate on financial regulations as required by the United States.

"This crisis came about, what we call the Section 34 fiasco, the plot to pervert Parliament, and of course it is turning in my mind whether it is people like us who were vex or was it the American embassy statement. That is the question we need to ask ourselves," he said.

Raymond questioned whether the severity of the situation was only gauged on when an international voice pronounced on it, while the local voice was ignored.

"Was it really an external hand setting the priority for Parliament?" he said.

Raymond also called for the Government to stop treating the issue flippantly by asking the population to move past it.

"It indicates a state of mind that is very troubling. White collar crime is a reality," he said.

"We are not going to sit quietly by and no we are not moving on," he said.

The group said it added to the crisis of confidence and trust that was already prevalent in the country.