Benjamin_Bowen in Parliament’s committee
Ombudsman on collision course with government
SOURCE POINTE XPRESS: The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has registered its disapproval of a report, allegedly authored by the country’s ombudsman.
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While the contents of the report are yet to be revealed, it has not stopped the government from publicly declaring that it was biased reporting and that the ombudsman may have acted outside the ambit of her role.
In the House of Representatives last week, Attorney General, Sir Steadroy Benjamin said the matter will be laid bare during the next sitting of parliament.
Saint Phillip’s South MP, Sherfield Bowen, suggested the composition of a committee to address the issues arising from the report, but Prime Minister Gaston Browne said it was necessary for the discussion to be held when next the lower house convenes, to which Sir Steadroy Benjamin agreed.
“Mr. Speaker, this counsel has had the opportunity of reading reports from ombudsmen over the years from Australia and other places and from this particular person as well. Sad to say sir, this is not in keeping with the ordinary reports one would expect from a constitutional provision holder, where there is to be no bias, but impartial representation of facts,” he stated.
The attorney general said the issue will not be allowed to go unnoticed.
“This will be dealt with by us and by me in particular on the appropriate occasion Mr. Speaker.”
Efforts to contact Sir Steadroy Benjamin to shed more light on this development were unsuccessful.
The Office of the Ombudsman, established in June, 1995, is enshrined in the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda, 1981 and Ombudsman Act, 1994 No. 5 of 1994. Its functions are:
“To investigate any complaint relating to any decision or recommendation made or any act done or omitted by any officer of Government or Statutory Body in any case in which a member of the Public claims to be aggrieved, or appears to the Ombudsman to have sustained injustice as a result of the exercise of administrative function of that officer or body.”
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