Missing transcripts of Hansard chronicling parliamentary sittings for the years 1985-1992 were probably damaged as a consequence of a leaky roof, and in the absence of evidence could not be said to have been deliberately destroyed, Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman said on Thursday in a report to the House.
Former Minister of Finance Carl Greenidge some weeks ago tabled a motion to investigate the period of the missing Hansards; it is the same period during which he served as finance minister under the PNC administration.
Greenidge had brought the motion to the National Assembly in response to the many criticisms he faced over his stewardship of the country’s economy during those years.
The second resolve clause of the motion called on the Speaker to institute an enquiry into the said disappearance or destruction of those records and report the findings to the National Assembly within one month after the tabling of the motion.
Trotman said he conducted interviews with Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, Frank Narain, former Clerk of the National Assembly, Maurice Henry, former Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly and Allison Connelly of the Hansard Department.
“Research has revealed that for the period in issue, there were 192 sittings dated [January 18, 1985] to [August 28, 1992], which covered the 4th and 5th Parliaments. Of these 192, the Clerk advises that 50 transcripts of part of the proceedings are available in the library,” he said.
Trotman said in the report that the transcripts available are for 14 sittings between January 18, 1985 to October 25, 1985; 99 sittings between February 3, 1986 to December 28, 1989; 59 sittings between January 24, 1990 and September 29, 1991; and 20 sittings between December 3, 1991 to August 28, 1992.
“I believe based on the information provided by Mr Frank Narain… and Mr Maurice Henry, that all the relevant transcripts necessary for the printing and publication of the Hansard for the period 1985 to 1992 were prepared, but that the Hansards were not printed,” Trotman said.
“The current Clerk confirms that there were stacks of documents stored at the Hansard department and that during that period of emergency repairs, they may have become damaged by water and could not be salvaged or reconstructed,” the Speaker said.
Quoting the Clerk of the National Assembly, Isaacs, the report states, “I was aware that the transcripts were stored in cubicles in an area in the present Hansard section… I believe that it was in 2003 [that this section] was in dire need of repairs and the staff and the transcripts were displaced to facilitate those repairs to the area. The transcripts were temporarily relocated to the area which presently is used to serve meals to the media on sitting days.”
It continued, “One morning, upon entering the office, it was discovered that some of the documents in the temporary area were soaked beyond recognition. A sudden change in weather patterns the previous night resulted in heavy rain accompanied by high winds, created a crevice in the ceiling thus resulting in water pouring into the room. The staff managed to salvage some of the documents but the majority were lost.”
In a letter in response to Trotman’s inquiries, former Clerk Narain wrote, “I was surprised and greatly disturbed to know that copies of the Hansard for the period January 1985 to December 1992, that is, for a period of eight years, cannot be located.
“As far as I am aware and know, all Hansard for all sittings, which would include those for the period referred to as missing were available at the Parliament Office. What were not yet printed were in transcript form. They were bound volumes from 1928 that were unprinted transcripts and there were individual printed copies not yet bound into volumes. All these were at Parliament Office when I retired and left in 2002… I am greatly disappointed to know that Hansard which is considered the most important parliamentary record is missing. I personally took a lot of trouble and care to keep and preserve the decades of all the documents of our Parliament.”
The Speaker registered his disappointment with the state of affairs and called the situation unfortunate and a travesty of gargantuan proportions.
“Given the passage of much time, and the unavailability of other persons to provide useful information, this is the furthest I can go at this stage. I can make no conclusive finding as to whether these documents ‘disappeared’ or were ‘destroyed’ maliciously. However I must, in the absence of anything revealed to establish otherwise, conclude that these documents were damaged as stated in the report from Mr Isaacs,” Trotman said.
“Whether they were left deliberately or recklessly exposed to the elements by some errant staff members is unknown, and it would be dangerous for me to venture there, through speculation, without having any basis for doing so. I will, as a matter of interest, continue to keep this matter under observation as a ‘cold case’ in the event that new evidence surfaces in the future,” said Speaker Trotman in his report.
The Speaker said that while he is satisfied that proper systems are in place for the printing and publishing of the Hansard, “My disquiet remains with the process of the security and storage of this essential record.”
He recommended that there be ongoing efforts to digitize all Hansard for electronic storage and easy retrieval; that there should be redundancy in the system to avoid complete loss of all or part of the Hansard; and that there be developed multiple on-site and off-site storage facilities including the use of ‘Cloud’ computing as a safe and secure means for storing data.
Trotman also recommended that the Hansard department prepare and submit to the Parliamentary Management Committee a quarterly report on the status of the Hansard produced, distributed and stored.
In a letter to Stabroek News on February 26, 2012, Greenidge had said about Hansard “Those for the entire Hoyte period have been removed from the Parliament, presumably either destroyed or hidden. The success of that period is an embarrassment for the PPP. They have been claiming that other governments are incapable of governing and that the PPP established the track record which enabled us to access HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries), etc. With the disappearance of those records they still cannot wipe out our contribution to the development of this country. The debates documenting the positions of the PPP and the achievements of the Hoyte era may have been destroyed and are not available to the citizens of this country but the essentials are known to others.”
He added “The Speaker’s office is supposed to be the guardian of such matters (records of bills laid and the Hansards) and I invite the Speaker, with the assistance of his predecessor, if necessary, to explain to the country what has become of these records and how they could have been lost without any announcement, enquiry or comment from the Speaker’s office.”
