(Trinidad Express) – Even as he noted that instances of corruption were widespread in Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday “the time has come to stop pretending that the angel Gabriel will come down and save us from ourselves”.
Piloting the Whistleblower bill in the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister said in every criminal action in this country, “especially inside of the institutions in the Government, in the State enterprises, out there in the streets, somebody knows. And what this bill is asking us to do is to encourage those who know. If you know something, say something and this country will protect you as far as we are able to.”
Noting that the Opposition support was required to pass this special majority legislation, the Prime Minister said: “If you are not prepared to stand up and be counted in a matter as clear-cut as this, on a matter so warranted, so damaging, then as Lloyd Best would have said, ‘them is people to watch’.”
The Prime Minister said people had become desensitised to corruption.
He said he had to drive around in a bullet-proof car because in the 2015 general elections campaign people who had an interest to protect against him becoming Prime Minister went to other citizens and offered them money to kill him and the member of the criminal element that they went to found it difficult and told someone else.
Saying that there were people who were prepared to kill him to prevent him from being Prime Minister, he argued that where crime and criminality are concerned, the actions of some people know no bounds.
The Prime Minister, referring to the high levels of corruption, spoke of the decision to remove a clause from the $1 billion contract for the Point Fortin Highway extension, which was designed to protect the public interest in the event that the contractor became bankrupt. He said the contractor had gone bankrupt months before and the clause was removed in the days before the 2015 general elections. He said the Government took the matter to court and won.
But, he said even as he was speaking, the contractor was attempting to challenge the judgment via arbitration.
He said if the Government lost the arbitration, it could still be liable to pay $921 million.
The Prime Minister also referred to another instance when he was to sign off on a document, which he was reluctant to do because he had been objecting to the payment.
He said as a result of hard work in several ministries, Government agreed to make a payment and he signed the last payment.
He said he put a proviso that it was subject to the Minister of Finance’s approval. He left the country to go overseas and while abroad the received a call from the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister telling him that the approval was for $100 million more than the agreed sum.
“Someone had changed the page of the sum that was to be approved but it did not affect the signature page and the increase was $100 million more on this contentious matter of a debt owed to a foreign company.
“When I inquired of those responsible, I am told that after the approval, they found out about other matters owing and they just added it to the bill,” the Prime Minister said.
He said the $100 million was not paid because he instructed the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister to stop any payment.
“Madam Speaker, that is at the high levels of the Public Service,” he said.
He said while many think of murder and violence when they think about crime, white collar crime was just as insidious.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people who will never see one million dollars in their lifetime. But then there are others in nice white cotton shirts, nice polished shoes, in air condition, eating the best, drinking the best, driving the best, talking the best and they are in fact the cancer in our society.
“And the objections are coming from quarters of people who will say ‘nitpick here, nitpick there’ but in the end leave it just so.
“That is what they are asking us to do and I am saying no,” the Prime Minister stated.
“Corruption is like a balloon that is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. We have seen situations where a Government is in office. They come in poor like a church rat. Some of them don’t want to come out of office but when they do, they want to go out as multi-billionaires because they believe that they are entitled to public monies and to the good life. And God alone knows what they wouldn’t do for it.”
Stressing that he was not only speaking about politicians, the Prime Minister said: “And the violent crime, if you look deeply enough, as the Attorney General says ‘follow the money’, and you will find it is money illegally had that is driving the criminal conduct in this country.
“Crime, criminality and the greed and desire of some people to get more than what belongs to them and to get it illegally and they hope that if they terrorise enough people we will all remain silent pretending not to know who is doing what.”
He said 59 countries had whistleblower legislation.
Stiff penalties
Dealing with the provisions of the bill, the Prime Minister said an anonymous disclosure was not a protected disclosure.
However, where the identity of the person who makes an anonymous disclosure becomes known, the disclosure shall be deemed to be a protected disclosure if it would have been a protected disclosure if it had not been made anonymously.
Clause 7 would allow an employee of an organisation to make disclosures where he/she has reasonable grounds to believe that improper conduct has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur within the organisation.
The Prime Minister said Clause 12 will require an employer to establish internal procedures for receiving and dealing with disclosures relating to his/her organisation.
He said the whistleblowing reporting officer shall, within reasonable time (30 days after receiving an internal disclosure), notify the whistle blower of the status of the disclosure or such matters as may be prescribed, unless it is apparent that action has been taken to deal with the conduct.
A whistleblower reporting officer will be prohibited from revealing the identity of the whistleblower without his consent in writing, he said.
Clause 18 will prohibit the taking of any action against a whistleblower, who will be guaranteed immunity from criminal, civil or disciplinary proceedings for having made such a disclosure, the Prime Minister said.
However, Rowley said such immunity would not apply if the whistleblower was the perpetrator or accomplice of improper conduct.
The bill penalises a person who makes a disclosure knowing that it contains a statement that is false or misleading, or who knowingly intimidates any person who intends to make a disclosure, or knowingly prevents, restrains or restricts any person from making a disclosure or being an employer knowingly subjects a person to detrimental action as a consequence of the person making a protected disclosure.
The penalties for these offences range from $15,000 and imprisonment for two years on summary conviction or on conviction on indictment to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for ten years.
A person who fails to deal with the disclosure as secret and confidential, disclosing the identity of the person or any statement given or document is liable to a fine of $600,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
The Prime Minister also gave a commitment, once the bill is passed, to return to the House to provide for a financial reward arrangement to a whistleblower.
He noted such an arrangement existed in the United States where the reward ranged from five to 15 per cent.
He said the Government was proposing that the Constitution be changed only “a little way” to pass the bill which would give the people of Trinidad and Tobago access to whistleblowing as a tool to deter corruption.
