I was extremely mortified and discombobulated by the statements made by Eric St Cyr, chairman of the Integrity Commission, regarding the unsettling public issue of the Prime Minister's platonic ties to the Gopauls and the awarding of a contract by NP to Gopaul and Co Ltd. St Cyr is a renowned economist, academician and a revered cleric. To this end he ought to know that as an adjudicator one is compelled to be impartial if delivery of judgment is to be perceived as such. Consequently, all those who hold the mantle of adjudicator or are endowed as such (magistrates, judges, commissioners of enquiries, mediators) must uphold the time-honoured characteristics of being non-aligned, objective, independent, even-handed, unprejudiced, detached and balanced. If they are unable to fulfil these requisites, they must do the universally acceptable thing and recuse themselves from the particular situation.
When a matter has to be adjudicated it is imperative to suspend judgment until all the evidence is produced, collated, dissected, analysed, perused and deliberated upon and consensus sought among those bestowed with the power/authority to do so. It is incomprehensible for me, and I suspect many citizens, to hear St Cyr say that the controversy surrounding the award of the $40 million contract to Gopaul and Co could have been avoided if Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar had stayed at a hotel. He further elaborated that "it's not a finding of the commission because, as I said, we haven't investigated or gone into the details, but it is clear and that's my opinion."
This is astounding to hear from a man of St Cyr's calibre, experience and intellectual standing. He ought to know that giving an opinion on a matter that is sub judice (so to speak, as the Integrity Commission is not a court of law) and where one has not reviewed all the evidence of the matter, is totally unbecoming and cause for grave concern. Subsequently, I would like to kindly and humbly suggest that as a member of the laity St Cyr recuses himself from this matter that is before the commission as he has promulgated his opinion and as such would not be deemed fair by the public and by extension the subject of the investigation, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar. I close by saying: "To err is human, to forgive divine." Chairman/Rev St Cyr made a blunder which I believe he should be cautioned for and not sent to the gallows. After all, he has served his country in an exemplary manner on countless occasions before."
Malcolm Mansoor
Santa Cruz