The National Library and Information System Authority (Nalis) has $26 million in its account, so Government finds it “quite curious” that a recent memo instructed staff to bring their own drinking water and toilet supplies to work, Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said in Parliament yesterday.
She was replying to UNC MP Ramona Ramdial’s queries on whether the memo recently circulating on social media was authentic. The memo from Nalis executive director Catherine Romain was sent to staff on Thursday, advising them to bring their own supplies since Nalis was experiencing challenges in maintaining operations due to fund shortage. She said the measures were to ensure Nalis stayed “afloat and survived this rough patch.”
However, Government has distanced itself from the memo.
Yesterday, Robinson-Regis said, “It appears the executive director was ill-advised to author such a memo. The memo from Nalis’ executive director was disturbing and its contents, disturbing.
“Immediately upon sight of same, the Communication Minister requested that the Communication Ministry’s permanent secretary make an official enquiry of the executive director as to its authenticity and the content of same.
“Neither the permanent secretary nor the minister were apprised of any situation warranting this memo. The preliminary report that’s been received suggests this memo may have been ill-advised. The minister has requested the provision of documentation surrounding the existence of money which Nalis has in its possession which would negate the effect of the content of the memo.”
When Ramdial pressed on whether Nalis has sufficient money to buy water and toilet paper for staff, Robinson-Regis said, “The information is Nalis has an account with $26 million in it. As a consequence of that, we find it quite curious such a memo would have been authored and we’re very concerned about that. We’re trusting it wasn’t politically motivated—given the fact that the memo was also sent to (UNC’s) Devant Maharaj.”
Maharaj, who’d broken the memo on his Facebook page on Thursday, said he could vouch for its authenticity.
“I got it from a disgruntled Nalis employee who was upset because the memo alluded to measures needed to ‘stay afloat and survive a rough patch’ when the Finance Minister only on Monday had been saying T&T’s economy was all rainbows and roses, yet Nalis staff was being told to bring their own water and toilet paper,” he said.