Naparima MP Rodney Charles, in a statement yesterday, warned that citizens might be spied upon for political or other reasons and soon there will be little they can do about about it.
“This is all part of our slow but inexorable march towards a creeping dictatorship under this Rowley administration,” he said
The Opposition MP said that the Government had “quietly laid in Parliament” Freedom of Information (exemption) Order 2017 which seeks to exempt Strategic Services Agency (SSA) from the application of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
He said on Friday the Opposition tried to annul the Order when it came up before the House of Representatives but Government used its majority to ensure its pasge. The order now goes to the Senate for further debate.
Charles said: “The FOIA in Section 3, ‘...extends the right of members of the public to access to information in the possession of public authorities’ like the SSA ‘limited only by exceptions necessary for the protection of essential public interest and the private and business affairs of persons in respect of whom information is collected and held by public authorities.”
He said in her contribution to the debate, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar pointed out that at the end of fiscal 2018 nearly $500 million was spent on the spy agency whose director is appointed by Cabinet and takes instructions from the Minister of National Security.
“He is therefore a political appointee reporting to politicians,” he said.
The MP said in the United States the CIA’s director is nominated by the President but is subject to confirmation by the Senate, while the in United Kingdom an Investigatory Powers Tribunal made up of legal professionals investigatea complaints about intelligence agencies’ activities.
“We now have, in this guava season, a $500 million spy agency under the direct control of politicians, led by a politically appointed director, and citizens will soon be deprived of the right to find out about the SSA’s hiring, promotion or dismissal policies,” Charles said.
“When this Order becomes law we will not be able to enquire how our millions are well spent in this expensive spy agency, or even salaries paid. We will not know through the FOIA whether its services are employed for legitimate intelligence gathering or to spy on political opponents.”
He said under existing law the SSA can withhold responses to requests under the FOIA based on national security considerations.
“Why therefore does the SSA now need a complete institutional exemption?” he asked.