President Anthony Carmona yesterday urged four new appointees not to put politics in front of their duties.
In addressing Andrew Stroude, Mark Ramkerrysingh, Danielle Chow and Dexter Joseph, who were sworn in at President’s House, St Ann’s, Carmona pleaded with them to give selfless service to T&T and be an inspiration to their communities, homes and offices when they began their duties. He also pleaded with them to desist from engaging in a sword fight with the public.
Stroude, a magistrate, was appointed as Deputy Director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) while Mark Ramkerrysingh received his letter of appointment as chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC). Danielle Chow was sworn in as a EBC member. Dexter Joseph was named as a commissioner at the Regulated Industries Commission.
Addressing the appointees, Carmona emphasised the job they accepted was not an easy one.
“You cannot and must not engage in a sword fight with the public. All you have to ensure is that you do your job to the best of your ability with the required integrity, and more importantly, with the required independence.
“I need to emphasise this. You are not here to represent any political party on any board. You are here... you have a higher purpose. You are here to represent this beautiful nation Trinidad and Tobago.”
In assuming their functions, Carmona warned the new members they should not “bark at your subordinates but to inspire them to greater heights.”
He also singled out the PCA, advising it that it needed to advance the course of mediation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) between police officers and civilians.
“So, it is in fact a small piece of advice that I would like to share with you because I think it is something that we need to take on board and work it in this particular culture that we have. This culture of confrontation... it is in this culture of confrontation we need more effective mediation and ADR techniques.”
Director of the PCA, David West, who was present at the ceremony, told reporters for the year the PCA had received 60 complaints from the public against the police. In 2015, West said, 371 complaints were made to the PCA. Of this figure, only 52 were resolved, with the remaining 319 under investigation.
West said ten cases went to the DPP “with one or two matters going forward. The ratio is very disproportionate. There is no legislation that says that they have (DPP or CoP) to give us a feedback on what they have done.
“That is something we are looking into. Also we are advocating for prosecutorial powers which will give us the power to prosecute and handle our own cases, which I think we really need to do,” he added. West said he hoped before September new legislation would come before Parliament.
“Right now we are doing amendments of our Act. Our Act is limited,” he said.
Fielding questions from the media, Stroude who will be paid not as a magistrate but for the position he now holds, said the PCA needed more teeth and funding to pursue matters vigorously.
“Those are things I want to concentrate on, ensuring at the end of the day the public confidence is restored in terms of the police and administration of justice,” he said.
With local government elections due in October, Ramkerrysingh said the EBC would look at campaign finance reform to ensure better democracy.
“In terms of advancing it, we already had a consultant here from Canada who interviewed parties with a view of coming up with some recommendations,” he added.
Ramkerrysingh said a conference was also being planned by the Government with regard to campaign finance reform.
“We intend to put forward the views that we got from that consultant. Hopefully it would lead to legislation,” he said.
He also steered clear of commenting on the UNC election petitions challenging the decision by the EBC to extend voting by an hour on election day, which was before the court.