The hiring of lobbyists, The Group DC LLC, by the Government “must bear fruit that can be enjoyed by all” citizens of this country, Opposition Member of Parliament for Barataria/San Juan Dr Fuad Khan has said.
Khan made the statement in a release yesterday in response to the uncertainty still surrounding exactly what benefits T&T have achieved from the lobbyists.
In October 2016, the T&T Government entered into a US$2.4 million (over TT$ 16 million) agreement with The Group DC to provide lobbying services for this country.
“When the Prime Minister finally admitted to hiring a lobbying firm in the United States of America in 2016, he did so with the usual brand of hesitancy and surreptitiousness with which we have no become accustomed. Nonetheless, after a year and six months of service to this nation, the taxpayers who are footing the US$2,000,000 bill are none the wiser as to their function and more importantly the results which they have produced, if any at all,” Khan stated yesterday.
“In the midst of this fiasco, however, uncertainty still looms over this contract regarding the procurement and selection of the GROUP DC LLC as the service provider tasked with this substantial, if not superfluous function,” Khan stated. Khan said this would not be the case, however, if Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, or one of the relevant ministers “would shed some light as to the function of this company and its Managing Director, Arthur ‘Art’ Collins.”
Khan said Collins’ name was revealed in the Wikileaks with respect to involvement in the transfer of four Uighur prisoners to Bermuda following the closure of the Guantanamo prison where they were previously held.
“In lieu of any further information regarding the involvement of the Group DC LLC, acting as foreign principals on behalf of this government, it should be a source of concern that the citizens of this nation are being kept in the dark regarding the deals being made on their behalf especially given the history of Mr Collins.”
“The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is now and should forever be reminded of its responsibility to the citizens of this country before all others. Given the current economic climate, there is no room for the accommodation of the needs of foreign countries above those of our own people,” Khan stated.