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In these weekly columns I have pursued certain matters that the leaders whom we elect by means of general elections are simply not willing to confront.
Unhelpfully, many other significant leaderships in the nation are generally content only to mouth platitudes about ‘partnering’ and ‘welcoming’ as they sway with the breeze of periodic changes of the party in power.
Photo: UNC.
In the mainstream media, there are of course commentators, including regular authors of letters to the editor, who are willing to bat on the sticky wickets of intimidation, victimisation, ostracism or hypocritical ‘encouragement’. Reference is made later to the impact of social media.
One of the matters that I have repeatedly pursued is the peril of the state enterprise system. For decades, political office holders of both main parties have had the state enterprise sector available to them under their unrestrained and largely unaccountable control.
This permits them, when in government, to make sport with our money.
Two weeks ago, the insightful Justice Ricky Rahim delivered a judgment concerning breaches of duty by the directors of the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT).
The judgment contained the latest revelations of the misuse of a state enterprise. A certain company received from SporTT a sole-select (that is a suck eye) award of a contract worth $34 million in connection with the now infamous LifeSport programme.
The directors of SporTT simply carried out the instructions of a minister of government and awarded the contract without any exercise of care and reasonable oversight of their own.
(Copyright SPORTT.)
These revelations featured in strongly worded editorials in the mainstream media. I yield only briefly to the temptation to say I told you so.
Perhaps there will now be pressure to re-examine how pernicious the state enterprise system is and to recognise more fully the extent of the critical failures to implement oversight reform.
So many of the state enterprises which make decisions involving public money have been established by incorporation as private companies under the Companies Act.
Nevertheless, whatever the formalities observed to elect directors in accordance with that Act and the sanctity of their duties, as described by Justice Rahim, the directors are appointed by the government and are subject to its whim.
With respect, the expectation that state enterprise directors will be more prudent than ‘yes men’, is not in accordance with reality.
It is a reality well expressed by a letter to the editor of the Trinidad Express newspaper on Tuesday last by Anthony Bennett of San Fernando, who described the state enterprise culture as one in which “accountability becomes a casualty”.
Mr Bennett continued: “This culture of passive obedience on boards, whether due to fear, favour, or political allegiance, creates a fertile ground for mismanagement.”
The exposure in these columns of state enterprises being under the thumb of the party in power goes back to 2002.
There were two occasions in June this year when I returned to the subject in light of the mass departure and different appointments of directors as a consequence of a change of government. I proposed the strengthening of the oversight function of the Public Accounts (Enterprises) Committee of Parliament under sections 119 (5)-(8) of the Constitution.
Photo: Chevaughn Christopher/ CA-images/ Wired868.
As indicated, I close by acknowledging the almost overwhelming, but frequently questionable, presence of social media in the formation of public opinion.
A Pew Research Center report of 6 December 2022 of “a survey of 19 advanced economies” concluded as follows:
“Most think that social media has made it easier to manipulate and divide people but also say it informs and raises awareness” and that “overall most believe that it has had a positive impact on democracy”.
The report identifies “most” as follows: “Across the countries polled, a median of 57% say social media has been more of a good thing for their democracy with 35% per cent saying it has been a bad thing.”
The United States was reportedly an outlier in that “just 34% of US adults think that social media has been good for democracy, while 64% say that it has had a bad impact”.
Meanwhile, despite whatever is posted, blogged or written, millions of public funds are lost through the state enterprise sector and the public utilities for which there is no real accountability.
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Martin G Daly SC is a prominent attorney-at-law. He is a former Independent Senator and past president of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago.
He is chairman of the Pat Bishop Foundation and a steelpan music enthusiast.
