Businessman Inshan Ishmael has taken the National Carnival Commission (NCC) to court over its failure to disclose documents related to the funds it had received from Government and private sponsors to host Carnival celebrations over the past three years.
He is seeking to have the court declare that the NCC breached its statutory duty under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing and/or refusing to disclose the information and direct that it supplies the documents.
In addition to the funding, Ishmael is also seeking proof of the $1 billion income that NCC’s chairman, Winston ‘Gypsy’ Peters, said the organisation had earned from this year’s celebrations.
Justice Margaret Mohammed last week granted leave to Ishmael to file judicial review proceedings against the NCC.
On February 16, Peters said during a media interview that this year’s Carnival was a financial success, with the NCC receiving in excess of $1 billion in revenue, in spite of it being allocated just $147 million to host the celebrations.
The request for disclosure was first made in February, but in response, the NCC asked that it be granted an extension of time to provide the information.
In his affidavit, Ishmael stated that when the documents were not disclosed by the end of July and there being no response to a preaction protocol letter, he had his attorney, Richard Jaggasar, file the judicial review application.
Ishmael stated that critical to the principles of the FOIA was the timely supply of documents and that public authorities ought not to unreasonably flaunt ‘and claim delay just for nuisance purposes’.
‘Financial statements ought to be readily available and easily accessible to public authorities. One of the main cornerstones of the FOIA is to enable citizens to access official documents namely financial information.
‘It is untenable for a public authority to continue to delay the supply of these types of documents given the nature of the request,’ stated Ishmael.
The matter will again come up for hearing on December 5, for case management.