Today the Senate met in regular session, but Business Sector Senator Godwin Hulse made it a special session when he handed over the final report of the Select Committee probing Social Security's investments loans and guarantees. Hulse, who chaired the Select Committee, informed the President of the Senate Phillip Zuniga that it had been completed, handed it over to him and moved a motion for it to be presented on a date to be set by the President. The President will do that in his discretion but that date is expected to be sometime next week.
When it is presented, Senator Hulse will read the entire report. After that, the members will debate it, and decide whether or not to accept it. If it is accepted by the Legislature, then it will be up to the Executive, led by the Prime Minister, or the Judiciary, led in this case by the DPP to decide what actions, if any, should follow from the report.
The report is the culmination of 20 months of work by 4 senators, including extensive public hearings, the review of reams of documentary evidence, and months or compilation and distillation of the findings. The report is said to be about 80 pages long and reportedly includes a review, an analysis and recommendations.
The process was launched in September or 2004 after the August 2004 G-7 shakeup in government. It is the first Senate probe to have been conducted in the country's history, and the completion of its task is seen as a signal accomplishment. But, with all that said, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the public will now wait to see if the report delivers on the promise of its mandate.
