Although there is no board, the Integrity Commission continues to function, conducting meetings and helping declarants to fill out their forms.So said Mervyn Crichlow, communications and public relations officer at the commission, whose offices are on the fourth floor of the Unit Trust Corporation building in Port-of-Spain.Saying the last board's term expired on March 14, Crichlow, in a telephone interview yesterday, said the commission's chairman Ken Gordon "has been in work" as usual.
No exact date has been set for the appointment of a new board but Crichlow said word had been received from the office of the President that a new board would be sworn in soon. "Work is going on and there is much that is engaging the employees of the Integrity Commission at this time. The staff continues its job. We are having meetings as normal and we are also meeting with declarants who may have trouble filling out their forms."The chairman has been here every day and up to today (yesterday) he was here for a meeting," Crichlow added.The commission's investigators, he added, also continued to probe complaints.
Crichlow said due to the two back-to-back holidays this month, Corpus Christi and Indian Arrival Day, those in public life have a deadline of May 29 to file declarations of income, assets and liabilities.The deadline is normally May 31 each year.The commission was also running its public education awareness campaign and was working on its third edition of the "Do Right Champions" competition aimed at promoting standards of integrity, which involves students of all primary and secondary schools, Crichlow added.This week the commission will be holding "Open Week 2013-Reaching out to Declarants," primarily aimed at encouraging people in public life who were challenged with declaration forms to seek help from the commission.