Dear Editor,
The public must, by now, be accustomed to the curious and uncanny habit of Attorney-General, Mr Basil Williams, to blame the “previous administration” or the “former AG”, or both, whenever he finds himself in a conundrum on any given issue.
His alleged recent “discovery”, that Dipcon Engineering Company obtained judgment against the state in excess of $300 million since November, 2015, is just but one example of a long line of such matters. He claims that he learnt of the matter only recently, and characteristically, blames me for his ignorance of its prior existence.
I left that office in May, 2015. That judgment was granted over six months after I demitted office. Yet, oddly, I am blamed. Attorney-at-law, Mr Mortimer Codette, through the letter columns of your newspaper, has requested that I shed some light on this matter (‘Did former AG make successor aware…?’ SN, August 16).
For the record, though not obliged to, on the 20th of May, 2015, I briefed my successor on every major issue at the Attorney-General Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs, including on pending court matters. More specifically, I informed him that two external counsel were retained to act in four or five cases that were pending in the court system. I named the lawyers and the cases. The Dipcon matter was one of those cases.
Moreover, the AG Chambers has a fully staffed Registry which has a full inventory and adequate record of every case involving the Attorney-General Chambers pending in the court system. If any case is being conducted by external counsel, sufficient particulars in relation thereto, are recorded in the Registry. The Registry falls under the supervision of the Solicitor-General.
It cannot be the fault of the “previous administration” or the “former AG” if the incumbent fails to familiarize himself with his office, duties and functions. I babysit no one.
I hope that I have finally put these issues to rest.
Yours faithfully,
Mohabir Anil Nandlall, MP
