Attorney Kerwyn Garcia, SC, the husband of President Christine Kangaloo, became the centre of the union’s ire this week after the contract for the then Industrial Court president, Deborah Thomas-Felix, was not renewed.
Heather Seale was appointed as president of the Industrial Court last Wednesday after the term of office of Thomas-Felix came to an end on Tuesday. Thomas-Felix was advised of President Kangaloo’s decision to replace her via telephone on Monday while attending official business in Geneva.
The Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM), saying there will be dark days ahead if Thomas-Felix’s contract was not renewed, delivered a letter calling on President Kangaloo to rethink her decision.
JTUM later alleged, without providing evidence to support the allegation, that there may be a possible conflict of interest in a matter that Garcia has before the Industrial Court.
It is not the first time that Garcia, an attorney of choice for the present administration, has found himself in the spotlight.
Garcia has come under scrutiny in the public domain for the number of state briefs that he has received and for being bestowed with silk by the Government shortly after his wife was appointed to office.
Investigations by Guardian Media reveal that Garcia has been briefed by several state enterprises with the bulk of his earnings coming from the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Public Utilities.
Between September 2015 and March 3, 2023, according to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents, Garcia received $14.25 million in legal briefs from the State.
Here is how that sum was broken down:
• $7.25 million was for legal cases representing the Ministry of the Attorney General;
• $2.5 million for representing WASA;
• $922,000 for Petrotrin;
• $240,631 for Palo Seco Agricultural Enterprises Limited, as well as the Estate Management Business Development Corporation;
• $392,048 for the Ministry of Health;
• $260,681 for the Ministry of Public Administration;
• $235,584 for the Land Settlement Agency; and
• $23,261 for the Ministry of Tourism
For the same period, Garcia was paid $2.147 million by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) for legal services—this from a sum of $48.7 million spent on legal briefs on 25 different attorneys and firms during that time.
Garcia’s uncle, Noel Garcia, was appointed HDC chairman in January 2020.
During the period 2020 to 2022, according to FOIA documents, Garcia was paid $1.18 million for briefs by the HDC. Only JD Sellier, Dharmendra Punwasee and Ravi Rajcoomar, SC, earned more than he did during that time.
Between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016, Garcia also earned $262,500 from the University of Trinidad and Tobago—a state university under the responsibility of the Education Ministry.
Garcia’s father, Anthony Garcia, served as Education Minister between September 2015 and August 2020.
There are no records of Garcia receiving any further legal griefs under the Ministry of Education. The only individual attorney (not including firms) to earn more than him during that time was Reginald Armour, SC, before he was appointed Attorney General.
In 2016, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar questioned why Udecott paid Garcia $400,000 for legal services so promptly, suggesting it had something to do with his uncle—Chairman Noel Garcia. The Opposition Leader claimed that nepotism and favouritism were at play because many other vendors were left waiting for outstanding payments from Udecott for services provided.
However, Noel Garcia rubbished the claims and said he does not interfere with the management of the state enterprise, as he is a non-executive chairman.
The Opposition also pointed to the amount of money earned by Garcia as an attorney for state agencies as another sign of family and government entanglement.
Family Ties
Accusations of a possible conflict of interest, nepotism and conspiracy have followed Garcia since his wife assumed office in March.
Her appointment drew criticism from the Opposition, with the UNC and other political voices suggesting Kangaloo was too closely aligned with the Government. Before becoming Senate president, the President served as Minister of Legal Affairs; Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education; Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, as well as an opposition senator under the PNM.
On May 8, Garcia and Kangaloo’s brother, Colin Kangaloo were appointed as senior counsels. The Opposition heavily criticised their selection, suggesting nepotism was at play.
Following the criticism, the President said she was advised by the Prime Minister about the Government’s selections for senior counsels. Prime Minister Rowley defended the silk choices saying familial relations played no part in the decision-making process.
“When I go to hold consultations on this matter it is in that context where I would want to know where the individual stands in their profession. Not who their family is, not who they are married to. Not who is their uncle, cousin, or brother.
“Familial connections played no part and the President had no say in not carrying out directions of the Cabinet,” Rowley said.
In a short speech in May after conferring “silk” on 17 attorneys, including her husband, President Kangaloo told citizens that her office does not select attorneys to be appointed as senior counsel.
In this latest controversy, dissatisfied with Thomas-Felix’s non-renewal after serving 12 years in the port, the unions turned their attention to Garcia.
In a statement on Wednesday, JTUM said the case before the court was the matter of the Public Services Association (PSA) seeking to enforce collective agreements regarding the NIB’s agreement to increase staff salaries by nine per cent.
Guardian Media tried unsuccessfully to get a comment from Garcia. We called and messaged Garcia multiple times on Friday and Saturday morning to get his comment the concerns raised by JTUM.
He was asked to comment on allegations that he has received preferential treatment under the PNM Government because of familial ties.
However, he did not respond to either calls or messages.