After issuing an ultimatum to government for the return of the computers taken from the Enmore/Hope Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) within a week, attorney Anil Nandlall is now stating that he will give the administration until the end of this week.
Nandlall related this information on Tuesday while noting that he was demonstrating some amount of leniency given that the Easter holidays had just concluded. Tuesday, marked seven days since Nandlall sent out a letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) Aubrey Heath-Retemyer on behalf of the NDC, demanding that the computers be returned within seven days’ time.
“…I hereby demand that you return the aforementioned equipment to my client at the location from which they were taken, within seven (7) days from the date hereof, if you fail to do so, my client will be advised to institute legal proceedings against the State and possibly, private criminal charges against each of the officers who were part of the aforementioned unlawful and criminal exercise,” the letter had stated.
On Tuesday, however, Nandlall stated that if he does not have a response by the end of this week, the NDC will be suing for the return of the computers, trespassing and for violation of constitutional rights. He stated that whether the computers were donated as gifts is immaterial, before adding that they are now the property of the NDC.
Officials of SARU along with employees from the eGovernment Project Execution unit had gone into the NDC two weeks ago and seized the computers after they discovered a plan to have the items sold.
The evidence, it was stated, was in the documented minutes of a December 21, 2016 meeting, which were signed by the NDC’s Chairman, and showed a decision to sell the computers.
The NDC’s Vice-Chairman Mohammed Dawud accepted that there were discussions surrounding the sale of the items, but has denied that there had been anything sinister about the arrangement as the computers, having been “outdated” and malfunctioning, were under consideration to be sold to fund new ones.
The NDC disagreed that SARU had the authority to interfere in the decisions of the council, which it noted was an autonomous, legally elected body independent of the government, and was therefore legally authorized to make its own decisions.
The Ministry of Public Telecommunications on the other hand, in a statement maintained that the computers were a donation by the Basic Needs Trust Fund and were regarded as State property and, therefore, could not be sold.
The opposition PPP, in a statement released hours after the seizure on Thursday, had said that the equipment is owned by the Community Resource Centre, a non-governmental organisation established by the residents of Enmore and which uses the equipment to hold classes in the upper flat of the NDC building for young people of the community.
