Resolving the IMPACS Conundrum

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] make bold to say: Put an end to the IMPACS impasse! Remove the sword of Damocles over the heads of the police. Release the DPP from this unwarranted burden. According to some legal minds with whom I’ve spoken, any move short of a full commission of inquiry to resolve IMPACS is bound to end in a stalemate and frustration.

Before getting into details, let me first express how it still pains me when I think of the many issues of national import the former Labour government left unresolved after fifteen years in office. Recommendations for Constitution reform, prepared by our best legal experts, were trashed in parliament by the same MPs that had appointed these experts. Citizens were not afforded an opportunity to review the proposals. There is the unresolved Grynberg issue. Rochamel and Frenwell financing remain largely unexplained. A tax was imposed on water to assist in de-silting the John Compton dam—and nothing happened! Labour used the tax collected for the development of Hewanorra Airport—and nothing happened! HIA is now a ghetto compared to the airports of Barbados and Antigua. Even St. Vincent and Grenada have forged ahead of us with their airport terminal buildings.

The island’s roads were left in a deplorable state. To add insult to injury, the former Labour government appeared to have developed a policy of allowing certain persons to build office space which the government then rented, thereby paying for a building which would never be owned by the taxpayers of Saint Lucia. This explains the push-back against the proposed new police headquarters and courts-of-law buildings. And of course, there is St. Jude hospital.

In all this unfinished business, however, none comes close to IMPACS, as far as I’m concerned. IMPACS is the worst legacy of the Labour government because it negatively impacts the entire police force; the only security force on the island. Do we need to be reminded that security is the first rule and obligation of every government?   

In a recent call to DBS-TV’s TALK show, I suggested that the host try and discern from his viewers how the issue of IMPACS could be resolved. It’s not too late to canvass public opinion on solutions to this unresolved matter. To that end, I have decided to take the lead and to go where angels fear to tread. I therefore share the following:

The IMPACS report about the police investigation of alleged extra-judicial killings is against the fabric of law and consequently could not proceed further except by way of additional investigation commensurate with the judicial process. The basics of the report offend the principles of law because evidence was apparently adduced when there was no report or any cross-examination during the proceedings. Who gave evidence and what was the nature of the evidence was not made known.What then should have happened when the former Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony received the report? Certainly, he should not have addressed it to the Director of Public Prosecutions because there was no basis on which the DPP could act. The only step available to bring this to a conclusion is by a Commission of Inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act CAP 17.03 Laws of Saint Lucia.

Section 2(1) of the Act states as follows: “It is lawful for the Governor General, whenever he or she considers it advisable, to issue a commission, appointing one or more commissioners, and authorizing the commissioners, or any quorum of them therein mentioned, to inquire into the conduct or management of any department of the public service, or any public or local institution, or the conduct of any public or local officers of Saint Lucia or of any district of Saint Lucia, or into any matter in which an inquiry would, in the opinion of the Governor General, be for the public welfare.”

This IMPACS matter ought to have been dealt with much earlier. The persons who gave evidence to the IMPACS commission would have to give evidence in public, and be cross-examined. That would put an end to the present situation. Dr Anthony was well aware of this procedure as he used it in his first appointment as prime minister when he obtained the services of a highly qualified English lawyer, Sir Louis Blom-Cooper, to be the investigating commissioner. It was a sweeping investigation in which even the former Prime Minister Sir John Compton was falsely accused of wrongly spending money in the Mangue area in Vieux Fort, for a road costing EC$25,000. I was the MP for Vieux Fort South at the time, and I was the one who persuaded some people to relocate so the road through the Mangue could be built. Indeed, this was the only road built in the town of Vieux Fort over the past forty years. For this, I too was dragged before the Blom-Cooper Commission. I am saddened and disappointed that to this day no one has made the former government pay for its sins of omission, or of commission, against the people of Vieux Fort and Saint Lucia. In politics, my policy is leave nothing to chance. Chance has a way of conspiring against better judgment. But I digress!

There is no necessity for this long delay in solving IMPACS which is affecting the competence of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force. This outstanding matter is preventing those men who are named in the report from making progress in the force. In addition, it is my belief that it is affecting the general competence and morale of the entire police service. Worse, a former well-liked commissioner resigned under a cloud of suspicion.

A commission of inquiry, being an appropriate judicial process in accordance with the laws of Saint Lucia, would obligate the United States to accept its results. In addition to the above, we the people must ask some simple questions, and determine to find answers. Who benefits when IMPACS keeps dragging seemingly without end? What benefit does the United States or Europe have in an unending IMPACS? Who benefits when the police are hamstrung from doing their work, and the DPP’s hands are tied to his sides?   

I therefore end by repeating: It’s time to put an end to IMPACS. It’s time to free the police to do their work fearlessly and competently. It’s also time to release the DPP from this unwarranted burden.