As far as commissions of inquiry go, they're usually low key events with commissioners and witnesses sequestered to backrooms conducting closed hearings and mulling over secret evidence. But next week Tuesday, that will change, dramatically, and all kinds of history will be made when the DFC Commission of Inquiry opens its hearings. The hearings will be held at the BIM Office on Chancellor Street in the West Landivar area. They will be open to the public and broadcast live on television and radio.
And while all those things will be firsts, what will truly make history is that Prime Minister Said Musa and Minister Ralph Fonseca may be called to testify. Both were ministers of finance when the DFC portfolio ballooned to $600 million, a fair portion of it spread out over questionable debts, debts which have since defaulted and now have to be covered by taxpayer dollars. Chairman of the Commission David Price today discussed the possibility that both senior government figures will be called.
David Price, Chairman - DFC Commission of Inquiry
"Everybody involved in the operations of the DFC, from the very top to the very bottom, have a collective responsibility for how DFC was run and if that means calling the two Ministers who were responsible for the DFC during this period, then we will call them. And I believe the Commissions of Inquiry Act, the powers of the Commission of inquiry Act, are more straightforward than the powers under whatever instrument the Senate had used.
So it is not that we cannot call them, that they have some kind of immunity. No no no, it is quite within the powers of the Commission of Inquiry to request them, to summon them, to come before the Commission and that is an issue that we are currently contemplating. I don't want to say categorically at this point, that yes we will bring them but I will tell you that the possibility of that happening is extremely strong.
I have seen and heard expressions of concern. I won't go so far as to say fear on the part of a fairly wide cross section of people, not only that they may be called but also about what might be said about them in these public hearings. Because certainly there are some very large non-performing irregular loans that you have helped to publicize, that the media has helped to publicize. Obviously certain names will continue to pop up.
I don't think those people are particularly happy with the imminence of the public hearings. But I can tell you that the powers conferred on any Commission by the Commissions of Inquiry Act are clear: the Commission of Inquiries can summon any witnesses to give sworn testimony. In addition to that there are penalties that can be enforced on anybody for refusal to obey a Commissions of Inquiry summons.
I don't want to imply at all that the Commissions of Inquiry Act is a most powerful piece of legislation. It is by no means a powerful piece of legislation in other respects. All we are required to do is to report our findings, which includes recommendations, the reasons for our findings, our processes to the Prime Minister. We cannot compel the Prime Minister to do anything with our recommendations. We cannot order or recommend to the DPP that he does anything with whatever we find."
Jules Vasquez,
Is that some of the most important work of the Commission of Inquiry, the process of arriving at the truth being as important as the destination, the final destination?
David Price,
"I will agree with you entirely Jules. I think that the public hearings are important not only as an investigative mechanism where evidence is collected. I think equally, if not more importantly, that the public hearing is the mechanism by which we engage the public in the process of establishing accountability in this country and I guess what I am saying in other words is that the public hearing, by being public hearings, and by virtue of Channel 7 and Channel 5 covering it live, will perhaps be more significant than the actual findings."
The Price commission has 7 terms of reference, which means digging into the DFC-led, Social Security backed, securitization program which generated hundreds of millions of dollars. Price told us why they will follow the money.
David Price,
"Much of our focus with respect to securitization will be on the use of the proceeds of securitization; what were these proceeds used for. Were they used for developmental projects? Were they used simply to repay loans?"
Jules Vasquez,
Will the DFC's inquiry be able to say with greater specificity who gave the order, who okayed that loan?
David Price,
"In the first place we will have access to personnel that the Senate Select Committee did not interview. So we will be in a position to talk to other people. We will be in a position to learn from the Senate Select Committee to ask questions that they did not ask. And so we will ask point blank, 'who gave these directive, did anybody give you these directives.'"
The hearings begin on Tuesday, August first and, as Price mentioned, they will be aired live on Channel 7. The hearings are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week from August first through to October 31st. They will run from 9:30 am to 12:00 noon and 1:30 to 3:30 pm.
