(Trinidad Guardian) China Jiangsu International Corporation T&T Ltd has warned Mustapha Ibrahim, the chairman of the Commission of Enquiry into the Las Alturas housing project to desist from making “adverse, inflammatory and injurious remarks” about them.
Senior Counsel John Jeremie, the attorney for China Jiangsu International Corporation T&T Ltd wrote Senior Counsel Larraine Lutchmedial, the secretary to the Commission about the situation on Wednesday. The Commission of Enquiry ended on Monday. “It has come to our attention that at the closing session of this enquiry on April 11, 2016 the chairman felt it necessary to make certain adverse comments about China Jiangsu’s refusal to appear before the Commission,” Jeremie wrote.
In his letter Jeremie stated that on January 29 Justice James Aboud declared the commission’s decision to make China Jiangsu a party of the enquiry was “ultra vires, unreasonable and irrational. The honourable court then proceeded to quash the said decision of the commission. In this regard, we suggest that the chairman guide himself accordingly with regard to his comments on China Jiangsu’s involvement in the enquiry,” the letter stated. “Further, the comments made by the chairman with regard to his opinion of China Jiangsu’s role in the present state of the Las Alturas buildings and his readiness to make any findings adverse to China Jiangsu in that regard, amount to premature findings of fault on the part of China Jiangsu and come dangerously close to bias which are causes for concern to our client,” he stated.
Jeremie reminded Ibrahim that the issuance of “Salmon” letters was the well-established practice of informing affected parties of any charges or adverse findings. “We insist that the chairman desist from making further adverse and/or inflammatory and/or injurious remarks which are precisely the type of mischief the honourable Justice Aboud warned against in his judgment quashing the Commission’s decision to add China Jiangsu as a party to this enquiry as aforesaid,” he stated. “In the circumstances we urge the chairman to guide himself accordingly in the future,” it added.
