Integrity body needs ‘bush bath’—Imbert

Opposition MP Colm Imbert says the Integrity Commission requires a “bush bath” to resolve its internal problems. He said so when questioned by reporters yesterday on the latest dispute to hit the commission—the refusal of deputy chairman of the commission, Gladys Gafoor, to recuse herself from a land deal matter before it. The matter involves former attorney general John Jeremie. Gafoor had written to President George Maxwell Richards in a bid to have the matter amicably resolved.

Following yesterday’s meeting of the Public Accounts (Enterprises) Committee (PAEC) at Tower D, International Waterfront Complex, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, Imbert said: “They (Integrity Commission) need a ‘bush bath’ because they seem to be always embroiled in confusion. They seem to be in an endless cycle of bacchanal.” Expressing his desire for the internal differences in the commission to be resolved, Imbert said changing the membership might not be the answer. He insisted the commission was an important and relevant institution for T&T.

He said it appeared as though “it is becoming more and more difficult to find persons to sit on that commission that are not going to attract some sort of confusion one way or the other. It seems to be a phenomenon that has crept in during the last four years.” He said in past five years “it seems to be that everybody who is appointed to that board finds themselves (himself/herself) to be a target and then the whole thing just descends into chaos.” He said nothing was wrong with the commission itself. “The problem is that we are having a problem finding people to sit on the commission and not become targets of controversy. That’s a problem the country has,” Imbert added.

He said the national community would be confused by the goings-on in the commission. “The commission is not focussing on its mandate, it is more on internal controversies (and) that can’t be a good thing,” Imbert insisted. Asked if he felt the need for some purging at the commission, Imbert said he did not want to comment on that matter. He said he wished the “present group would resolve their problems if they can, rather than have to purge and start all over.”