Dear Editor,
Some media columnists seem pre-occupied with issues which mirror more of a personal hobby-horse than a genuine concern for national development. One such practitioner is Dr Anand Goolsarran who has a fixation with Justice Charles R Ramson SC, OR. In his latest tantrum ‘Trusted Trader Programme, etc,’ in SN of May 9, he cited the US State Department Report in which he claims “requests to the Commissioner for information were infrequent” and “for the appointment of a Commissioner of Information”.
Given that the undersigned is the incumbent Commissioner since July 2013 and no inquiry was made to him for any information about the past and current analysis of the operational calculus of this office, one cannot be faulted for expressing some legitimate concern for the level of accuracy of these assertions and their repetition by this columnist. One is left to wonder whether TIGI was the source of the State Department information!
Newspapers have some value for posterity and it is incumbent that ‘facts’ ought to be verified before permitting those kinds of commentaries. This incumbent has never subscribed to any form of enslavement, mental, physical or otherwise. His parents admonished him to beware of the proselytes he may encounter on his journey to Damascus; so far he has been astutely mindful of this guidance.
For the record, that auditor whose benefaction was enlarged by in excess of $40 million for less than a year’s work, an average of $5 million per month, may wish to verify that the members of staff whose pay packets were suspended when the then opposition had reduced the budget of OP, were paid by this incumbent who, according to Mr Goolsarran, “is not known to be approachable and friendly”, from his own resources. Unfortunate though it may seem, the reality was that their survival depended on this initiative since most public servants live from pay cheque to pay cheque.
Secondly, TIGI’s request to the Commissioner of Information was not legally entitled to be considered. Mr Goolsarran, being a self-proclaimed quasi-attomey-at-law, ought to have checked the Access to Information Act 2011 and he may have so advised himself and TIGI. A president of any outfit needs to be ever vigilant in making public statements which adversely affect its credibility.
Thirdly, this incumbent served as Attorney General on three, not two, occasions and as a Justice of Appeal, a ‘politically neutral’ position, without a patina of public outrage. Mr Goolsarran’s insensitivities are completely alien to an unenslaved mindset.
The cartoon in SN on the 9th best expresses the outcome of his extravagant interventions.
Fourthly, it is common that many NGOs have a public face attached to their body parts which are driven by private agendas. President Putin exposed them in the Federal Republic of Russia in the recent past, followed by India which has since imposed financial restrictions on them. This incumbent is ever vigilant in the execution of his assigned portfolios without fear, favour or prejudice and regardless of the subliminal threats to his likely visits to the US, UK, Canada and other visa intensive donors.
Yours faithfully
Justice Charles R Ramson, SC
