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The 'Facts' According to Louis Lee Sing
Posted: Thursday, February 24, 2005

By Stephen Kangal

In the face of the convincing verdict handed down by Madame Justice Mira Dean- Armorer against victimisation and discrimination meted out to Devant Maharaj by the NLCB/SASC/The Prime Minister why must Louis Lee Singh, ex post facto now feel that parading his brand of irrelevant "facts" in the Guardian (16 Feb. p.25) is superior to and more valid than those to which the learned Judge gave legal precedence and weight and arrived at her decision?

The logical and only credible course of action that the Chairman of the NLCB, Louis Lee Sing should have adopted was to make a public acceptance of the High Court verdict, tender his resignation and the issue of a paid notice of apology to tax payers/Devant Maharaj. He should avoid trying to trivialise and deflate this historic Judgment handed down against importing unconstitutional political interference in SASC public sector appointments.

I searched carefully but fruitlessly for those convincing "facts" in his commentary. I only found Lee Sing making pathetic imputations against a member of the SASC for 20 years now and who is also an Executive Member of the Maha Sabha. This member agreed to absent himself from the interviews but the SASC did not allow him.

Lee Sing toyed flippantly with the concepts of" seniority" and "meritocracy" as if they are mutually exclusive. He ignores the fact that the Court held that Maharaj was both the most senior and also topped the interviews. Meritocracy like beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder in the public sector in T&T. He places a high premium on public sector performance appraisal forms but he knows that these forms can be and have been doctored and contaminated with ease. They have not done justice because of the several victims who sought redress and judicial reviews from our Courts and triumphed. The Guardian Editorial commenting on the plight of "Indo-Trinidadians…advancement in the Public Service…" of Monday 21 February is both instructive and welcome.

In fairness to Lee Sing the only "fact" he presented was that Devant Maharaj was a "non-performer". But during the judicial review hearings it was revealed that Maharaj was such an outstanding officer in managing the Classic Lottery that the NLCB did not want him to leave this area to serve as Ag Deputy Director.

I came to the conclusion from the commentary that Lee Sing believes as well that if he tells a lie often enough it begins to sound like truth in his ears.

Who has been preaching about fairness, justice and equity at every moment/every speech and breaching them in the same breath as well when it comes to sanctioning appointments.

Why not therefore allow the Prime Minister to unilaterally and arbitrarily appoint all Senior Public Servants and forget the pseudo- independent Service Commissions and their wasteful interview processes?



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