Devant Maharaj has captured the nation's attention and imagination through his steadfast campaign to uncover secret government information, especially with regard to taxpayers' money. Head of the Indo-Trinbago Equality Council, Maharaj fielded questions in a wide-ranging interview.
Q: On careful analysis, what do the details about financial assistance to selected tertiary students reveal?
A: I wish to state up front that Indo-Trinbago Equality Council is not unhappy that persons got assistance from the State. Indeed, that is the responsibility of the State. What concerns us is that there is no transparency in the process, and that the majority of citizens did not have an opportunity to participate in this facility provided by the State. The revelations are disturbing, to say the least. The very fact that the Ministry of Culture was being used to disburse essentially a political slush fund remains offensive. The facts of the distribution emanating from this corrupt action, as a result, could only be corrupt in itself.?There are numerous people who are neither "poor" nor "vulnerable" who received financial support.
They include PNM Senator Laurel Lee Sing, Rain Lewis and i95 broadcaster Jerome Lewis. Some other names that appear on the list simply did not receive assistance, begging the question: Where did the money go? Less than two per cent of the recipients were Indo-Trinidadians, indicating, perhaps, a clear ethnic agenda. There were also instances where persons were receiving assistance for studies both local and foreign. Assistance was given locally where the programme was given Gate support. The analysis reveals much more apparent inconsistencies and areas of concern.
What, then, did you make of Minister Marlene McDonald's statement in Parliament?
The Minister's statement was a collective insult to the intelligence of citizens, as well as to Parliament. The nation must recall that Senator Wade Mark asked these very questions about the "skullerships," and was blanked in Parliament. Yet, a private citizen was able to wrest from the minister the very same information. Secondly, the minister attempted to "play smart with foolishness." She never addressed the issue of why the Ministry of Culture–and not the Ministry of Public Administration or Ministry of Social Services–was distributing bursaries or financial assistance.
The issue of the failure to advertise the assistance nationally, along with the criteria, was also telling. The minister was engaging in spin in an effort to cover up the discovery of a PNM slush fund. The minister indicated that there was a ceiling of US$2,500 a year, yet many students received much more than that. I must hasten to add that this minister was not the one administering the ministry during this period. However, in true PNM style, she closed ranks to defend this indefensible act of corruption by the PNM.
What was the process you used to obtain the information?
The process used to unshackle the information from the vault of the ministry was the Freedom of Information Act and the courts. This was not an overnight process, but took time and perseverance. An application for the information was made in 2008, but the ministry resisted providing information, as they did with Senator Mark. But I, along with attorney Anand Ramlogan and his team of lawyers at Freedom House, engaged the ministry legally, challenging their refusal. After almost a year, the information was eventually released.
You have been routinely using the Freedom of Information Act to extract hard-to-get information. What other major details have you unearthed from the use of that legislation?
The nation must surely recall the details of the expenditure for the Fifth Summit of the Americas. We also got information on African prisoners held by the State. The act was also used to reveal that Prime Minister Patrick Manning used funds from the Office of the Prime Minister to pay for the lecture of Prof Patrick Manning at Dr Selwyn Cudjoe's Emancipation dinner. The act was used to expose the ethnic bias in the national awards that discriminates against Indians. The act was also used to reveal the inequality in treatment by the Ministry of Culture, when it comes to funding of Indian Arrival Day versus Emancipation Day.?The award of the lion's share of advertising by the Ministry of Local Government was also unearthed through the legislation. The act was used to reveal the Mori poll that most media houses are now using. The act also revealed the distribution of diplomats and permanent secretaries.
Do the details suggest a larger picture?
The details do, indeed, suggest a larger picture, and that picture is the PNM Government is doing a lot more behind the scenes and unknown to the people at large. State resources are being used to carry out an unwritten agenda without any public scrutiny or accountability to Parliament. For example, despite having service commissions to hire and fire persons employed by the State, there is the establishment of a Human Resource Company of Trinidad and Tobago.
The company expends $600,000 a month, yet the Government spends $4 million to a foreign university to recruit a Commissioner of Police.
What drives you to unearth all this hidden information?
As a patriot of this nation with a strong sense of civic responsibility, I believe it is the duty of every citizen to monitor the government, so as to ensure there is good governance. Citizenship comes not only with rights, but also with responsibilities. Our democratic rights do not begin and end with a general election. The worst thing that could happen to this country is to permit the government to run a secret administration.
Briefly, what is the process for using the FOIA?
The process is simple. There is a form which can be obtained easily from the FOIA Web site, as well as most government agencies. Filling out the form is also an uncomplicated task. This form is delivered to the relevant ministry or agency. After 30 days, the applicant is supposed to get the information from the ministry or agency. If there is no response, the applicant can refer the matter to an attorney to pursue legal action.
You are a campaigner for social equity and justice; have you seen any marked gains in recent times?
I have noticed the reverse, instead. There is a disturbing trend in recent times, where the Government has not only downsized the department handling FOIA, but also many ministries and agencies simply ignore FOIA applications and wait to see if the applicant has the resolve to take it to the next level before providing the information. There are also cases where the information is false or misleading. In the case of the Ministry of Culture's slush fund, many persons have indicated they did not receive any funds. This implies that the ministry just did not care to prepare the information properly.?I was at a state board where the information which would have shown the government in a bad light was vetted.
The government appears to be resisting any attempts by citizens to hold it accountable. ???
Where, from your analysis, is the inequity most pronounced?
It is clear that the hallmark of this Manning is that inequality of treatment is the order of the day. Virtually all ministries and agencies have some degree of inequality. The Ministry of Culture and the Office of Prime Minister are, perhaps, the best examples where inequality appears to be the official policy.
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Apart from use of FOIA, do you contact the authorities on any matter of injustice or inequity?
Information garnered through the FOIA is often used as complaints to the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Integrity Commission, where it is hoped that, eventually, they would be addressed.
Shouldn't there be a wider concerted campaign to press the authorities for change?
It is hoped the public expose will press the government to see that biased policies are wrong. It did not work for apartheid South Africa, so why should it work for a PNM Government? The press and civil society are important to press for change.
There have been claims that the people on whose behalf you campaign are apathetic toward these matters. How do you respond?
The vast majority of people are busy with their own lives. But that does not mean we are all content to stand idly by and witness injustice and inequality. Once the information becomes public, the most apathetic person becomes animated, to some extent. Surely, a more balanced and equitable society cannot be built only by uncovering bias and discrimination.
What else do you recommend?
The process of building an equitable society has to begin somewhere. There are still many persons, due to blind allegiances, find a way to justify the many forms of discrimination that are employed by the PNM Government. We have to be emancipated from this before we can think of moving forward. Why is it alright for the Prime Minister, where it is suspected that $10 million went missing, but no calls for investigation into the Ministry of Culture, where more than $46 million was spent with no apparent process beyond naked corruption?
Why hasn't the Auditor General gotten into the Ministry of Culture as yet?
Many of our institutions have become corrupted with persons holding office and believing that they owe some political or tribal office to the party in office.
The Equal Opportunities Commission has not gotten off the ground. Have you contested this?
I have written to both the President of the republic and the chairman of the commission on the lack of functionality. The president met with me to discuss the issue, but, as it stands, the EOC is not functional. The government was never interested in having a functioning EOC. The PNM Government is fearful of a functional EOC.
Have you been inspired by any campaigner for social justice?
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was the pioneer of satyagraha (resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience), firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total non-violence, which led to India's independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedoms around the world.