Government came in for a tongue lashing from Opposition senators in the Senate on Tuesday where issues of alleged corruption and improper procurement practices took centre stage. The senators were debating a government motion on Public Procurement. Opposition Senator Terrence Deyalsingh strongly criticised the Government's handling of the scandal involving Planning Minister Mary King, which he stated left much to be desired. King, a former president of Transparency International, was fired by the Prime Minister last Monday, after the Attorney General found she acted improperly by failing to declare her interests when a $100,000 contract was awarded to her family company, Ixanos, to develop a Web site for the Planning Ministry. The Integrity Commission has since launched an investigation into the matter.
However, Deyalsingh said the Government was privy to pertinent information on the issue since November 2010 but failed to address it. Stating that the Opposition was also aware of the issue since November but could not divulge details as it had no solid proof, he said, "Senator Mary King damaged her reputation for a $100,000 contract...The point is, the Government knew about it since November and did what? Nothing. "What is the position of the Government when you know about a serious conflict of interest and you do nothing? You cannot have laws against that. That is where transparency comes in...The question is, doesn't it apply to you?" He added: "She may have moved from the Independent bench to the Government bench, but when she fell, all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Mary King together again." Deyalsingh further waded into the Government, stating that it held no "moral authority" to speak about corruption when there was "this appearance of bias."
Deyalsingh added that the current issue surrounding state-owned Caribbean Airlines was also cause for concern and called for the "infighting between the CAL board and the Minister" to "come to an end." He said, "The CAL board is giving out awards and contracts to WINTV...I don't know what market share WIN TV has in T&T but when you look at the sums of money WIN TV is getting from the CAL Board, it is absolutely phenomenal."