Finance Minister Colm Imbert is clearing things up, foollowing his sudden decision to delay the rollout of the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority to November.
In a release, Minister Colm Imbert said he had taken note of a press release issued by the Public Services Association (PSA) regarding a decision related to the active case of Terissa Dhoray v the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago.
Imbert explained that while he has refrained in the past from “commenting on the inaccurate and misleading statements made by the PSA as the TTRA matter has progressed through the courts in Trinidad and Tobago”, he must emphasize that the Government was successful in having an application for an injunction (made on behalf of the PSA) dismissed by the High Court on June 5.
In the release, Imbert said if the application for injunctive relief had been successful, the work of the TTRA in establishing its organisational structure in a timely manner would have been severely disrupted.
The decision of the High Court was followed by a majority decision of the Court of Appeal on July 11, which dismissed an appeal of the decision of the High Court in the matter.
Imbert said on Monday, he made an order extending the time for public officers to exercise their options under the TTRA Act, which can be summed up as either:
(1) transfer to the TTRA
(2) retire from the public service, or
(3) remain within the public service if a suitable alternative position is available.
The original deadline for public officers to make that decision was July 31 but was extended to November 30.
Imbert said the decision had nothing to do with the minority decision in the Court of Appeal.