The Ombudsman has commenced summary criminal proceedings in the Port of Spain District Court against Kathy Ann Mills-Mark, Chief Executive Officer of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation, following her failure to attend hearings to which she was summoned contrary to Article 10 of the Ombudsman. Acts Chapter 2:52.
According to a statement released this afternoon, the Office of the Ombudsman issued two subpoenas on April 1 and April 4, 2022, requiring Mills-Mark to appear before Ombudsman Rajmanlal Joseph on April 20 to testify in two separate complaints v. Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation.
The first hearing concerned a delay in addressing a complaint by the Corporation about the construction of illegal structures on a government reserve. The second hearing was in relation to the Corporation’s delay in addressing a roadblock complaint on Gittens Street, Tacarigua.
According to the Office of the Ombudsman, when the hearings convened at 11:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. as scheduled, CEO Mills-Mark did not appear and checks with the Ombudsman’s Registry Office confirmed that no excuse had been sent by Mills- Mark or Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation to explain her absence.
To date, the Office of the Ombudsman has not received any justification or legal justification for Mills-Mark’s absence from the hearings to which she was summoned.
Since his appointment on May 19, 2021, the Ombudsman has held 102 hearings regarding 210 cases under investigation.
If public authorities fail to respond to the Ombudsman’s requests for information in the course of his investigations, he will exercise the jurisdiction assigned to his office under section 97 (1) of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago.
According to Article 97 (1), the Ombudsman has the powers of the Supreme Court to summon witnesses to appear before him and to compel them to testify under oath and to produce documents relevant to the proceedings before him.
