Former temporary Independent Senator Justin Junkere has made it clear that he never took up the position on the Airports Authority of T&T’s (AATT) board when his name was announced as part of AATT’s board last year.
Junkere’s name has been at the centre of some controversy following his support—and Independent Senator Ian Roach’s—for the much debated Strategic Services Agency (Amendment) Bill. Their two votes aided passage on Tuesday.
On October 1, 2015, Communication Minister Maxie Cuffie had announced Junkere among members of the new AATT board headed by Roland Baptiste. Cuffie had named other members including Nigel Ferguson, Robert Tang Yuk, Ramesh Lutchman, Kent Moore, Navin Maharaj, Joseph Granville, and Vindra Parmesar.
Junkere’s name was reported by the media the following day, as part of the AATT board. However, Junkere told T&T Guardian yesterday, “I never applied for the appointment and never took up it up. I’m not a member of the ruling (PNM) party, and I felt it wasn’t right to accept such an appointment to a state board, so I stood down from the post.”
He noted that it had not been announced that he hadn’t taken up the post.
Parliament yesterday confirmed that Junkere began serving as temporary Independent senator from October 20, 2015. President’s House sources also confirmed state board members aren’t normally chosen as Independent senators.
Junkere said it seemed to be a common thing where people were named for boards publicly, but it wasn’t always announced if they didn’t take up the appointment. Cuffie didn’t immediately reply to calls yesterday.
On Thursday, the Opposition United National Congress stated Junkere had been retained by the Office of the Attorney General in a lawsuit and therefore he was unfit to hold the post of Independent senator. In response, Junkere said he accepted a brief from former AG Garvin Nicholas and was entitled to do so. He said, if given an opportunity, he would again support the amendments to the SSA Act.