Eric A. Williams
Encyclopedia
Eric A. Williams was until November, 2007 a Trinidad and Tobago
politician
and was Member of Parliament
for Port of Spain
South. Until his resignation from the Cabinet in January 2006, he served as the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries in the then People's National Movement
government a post he held from December, 2001. A geologist
and geophysicist
by training, Williams entered Parliament
in 1995 when he won the Port of Spain South seat formerly held by PNM founder Dr. Eric E. Williams (no relative).
In a now discredited February 2004 letter to then Prime Minister and Political Leader of the PNM, Patrick Manning
, PNM Councillor Dansam Dhansook alleged that he had paid a TT$
75,000 (approx. US$ 12,000) bribe to Williams in seven separate payments over the period January to July, 2003; one of TT$ 15,000 and six of TT$ 10,000. The letter was made public on April 27, 2005 when it was read in the House of Representatives
by now Prime Minister, (as of May 2010) Kamla Persad-Bissessar
, United National Congress
MP for Siparia
. Dhansook has since publicly apologised to Mr. Williams, his colleague Mr. Franklin Khan, and the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago for his role in this entire matter.
An article entitled 'Dhansook says I’m sorry' on Sunday 13th February, 2011 in the Trinidad Sunday Guardian reads in part,
'“I am sorry.” Former People’s National Movement councillor, Dansam Dhansook has finally apologised to former PNM ministers Franklin Khan and Eric Williams for the role he played in their wrongful arrests.
Acknowledging an apology could never suffice the agony and pain both families endured, a visibly stressed Dhansook said the time had come for him to make amends. “I want to say sorry to the people that I hurt and I was used to hurt; I am sorry. I am very sad about what I did. I am totally disappointed in myself. I am not looking for any sympathy. I made a mistake by trusting a certain individual and I paid the price for it. “I want to tell the families of Mr Khan and Williams that I am sorry from the depths of my heart. I want to tell the country sorry...I really made a mistake,” a remorseful Dhansook said in a candid interview with Sunday Guardian last week.
Both ministers were hauled before the court on bribery and corruption allegations made by Dhansook.
However, Williams was freed due to unreliable evidence and charges were dropped against Khan after investigations revealed a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Admitting that he feared for his life, the former Ecclesville councillor who said he had made attempts to correct the “mess,” claimed that because of scare tactics and lies employed by a certain individual he was manipulated and led down a path of no return, “one lie after another lie.” “I wanted to come out and say exactly what happened but I was afraid and was being guided. I have lost everything and I have nothing to lie about anymore. I have nothing to hide anymore,” said Dhansook, whose business has collapsed and his family life almost shattered.
“I never bribed Mr Khan or Williams. In fact, I never knew Williams,” he confessed.
“I knew Khan because we were childhood friends. I am sorry for what I did and the hurt I caused,” Dhansook said, as he openly explained the type of business relationship he had shared with Khan.
Snr Supt Solomon Koon Koon of the Anti Corruption Investigations Bureau visited Dhansook last week and questioned him in relation to the matter.
On January 7, 2006 seven warrants for Williams arrest were issued on a charge of misconduct in public office for corruptly receiving $75,000 in 2003. Williams who maintained his innocence, but "senior government members" predicted correctly that he would resign his ministerial portfolio on January 9, 2006. On January 9 the seven charges were laid indictably against Williams. He was granted bail of TT$
600,000.
No PNM officials appeared at his hearings over the two year duration of the Preliminary Inquuiry, other than then Mayor of San Fernando Ian Atherly and former Councillor Cynthia Pipier of the Port-of-Spain City Corporation. However, three then Ministers, Fitzgerald Hinds, then a Minister of State and now a Senator in the Opposition, Dr. Keith Rowley
(who was being investigated by the Integrity Commission but has since been exhonerated while a member of the Cabinet and is now the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the PNM) and Diane Seukeran, former MP for San Fernando West and then a Minister of State spoke to the press in his defense.
On December 31, 2007, all charges against Mr. Williams were dismissed. His accuser Dansam Dhansook was declared to be 'manifestly unreliable as a witness' by Senior Magistrate L. Cardinez-Ragoonanan who presided over the Preliminary Inquiry into the charges.. see, http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,70644.html
...... Earlier, sitting in the Fourth Court, Magistrate Cardenas-Ragoonanan cited several inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, the most crucial being that the evidence of its main witness was “unreliable and inconsistent.”
During his testimony, Dhansook, a PNM Councillor and contractor with Terra Seis Seismic Surveys Limited, told the Court that he was at Balisier House when Williams demanded payments from him. However a few moments later Dhansook admitted, when given his original statement to the police to be read out under oath in the court, that on the same day he was at a Christmas party he held for his staff and that he clearly remembered because it was two days before his birthday. Yesterday, Cardenas-Ragoonanan said, “The fact that Mr Dhansook testified he was in two places at the same time when the plan was hatched, sent red flags of uncertainty. It was impossible that he could be at Balisier House (sic in Port of Spain) and at a staff party in Rio Claro, if by virtue of geography alone.” The Magistrate added, “I find the evidence tenuous...tenuous indeed, vague, uncertain and definitely not enough for any jury to convict on.”
Cardenas-Ragoonanan also ruled that there were several flaws in the allegation itself as there was no documentary evidence to support whether payments were made to Williams. “Mr Dhansook was unable to give specific times and occasions when the payments were allegedly made to Mr Williams, his evidence was tenuous, at worst unbelievable, a jury should not have to speculate. Therefore I find it that no prima facie case can be made out against Mr Williams on Dhansook’s evidence,” the magistrate said.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
South. Until his resignation from the Cabinet in January 2006, he served as the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries in the then People's National Movement
People's National Movement
The People's National Movement is the present-day opposition political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Founded in 1955 by Eric Williams, it won the 1956 General Elections and went on to hold power for an unbroken 30 years. After the death of Williams in 1981 George Chambers led the party...
government a post he held from December, 2001. A geologist
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and geophysicist
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
by training, Williams entered Parliament
Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago
The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. It consists of the elected House of Representatives, which has 43 members elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies, and the Senate which has 31...
in 1995 when he won the Port of Spain South seat formerly held by PNM founder Dr. Eric E. Williams (no relative).
In a now discredited February 2004 letter to then Prime Minister and Political Leader of the PNM, Patrick Manning
Patrick Manning
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was the fourth and sixth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the former Political Leader of the People's National Movement . He served as Prime Minister from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and held that office again from 24 December 2001 until 26...
, PNM Councillor Dansam Dhansook alleged that he had paid a TT$
Trinidad and Tobago dollar
The dollar is the currency of Trinidad and Tobago. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively TT$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents...
75,000 (approx. US$ 12,000) bribe to Williams in seven separate payments over the period January to July, 2003; one of TT$ 15,000 and six of TT$ 10,000. The letter was made public on April 27, 2005 when it was read in the House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago
The House of Representatives is the elected Lower House of the bicameral Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. The House of Representatives sits in the Red House in Port of Spain. It has 41 members, each elected to represent single-seat constituencies...
by now Prime Minister, (as of May 2010) Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Kamla Persad-Bissessar is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the seventh person to hold this position...
, United National Congress
United National Congress
The United National Congress is one of the two major political parties in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and one of the parties in the current ruling coalition. It was founded by Basdeo Panday, a lawyer and former trade unionist. The UNC was formed as the result of a split in the ruling...
MP for Siparia
Siparia
Siparia is a town in southern Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago, south of Penal and south-east of Fyzabad. Also called "The Sand City," it was originally a non-Mission Amerindian settlement. Siparia grew to be the administrative centre for County Saint Patrick, and later the Siparia Regional...
. Dhansook has since publicly apologised to Mr. Williams, his colleague Mr. Franklin Khan, and the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago for his role in this entire matter.
An article entitled 'Dhansook says I’m sorry' on Sunday 13th February, 2011 in the Trinidad Sunday Guardian reads in part,
'“I am sorry.” Former People’s National Movement councillor, Dansam Dhansook has finally apologised to former PNM ministers Franklin Khan and Eric Williams for the role he played in their wrongful arrests.
Acknowledging an apology could never suffice the agony and pain both families endured, a visibly stressed Dhansook said the time had come for him to make amends. “I want to say sorry to the people that I hurt and I was used to hurt; I am sorry. I am very sad about what I did. I am totally disappointed in myself. I am not looking for any sympathy. I made a mistake by trusting a certain individual and I paid the price for it. “I want to tell the families of Mr Khan and Williams that I am sorry from the depths of my heart. I want to tell the country sorry...I really made a mistake,” a remorseful Dhansook said in a candid interview with Sunday Guardian last week.
Both ministers were hauled before the court on bribery and corruption allegations made by Dhansook.
However, Williams was freed due to unreliable evidence and charges were dropped against Khan after investigations revealed a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Admitting that he feared for his life, the former Ecclesville councillor who said he had made attempts to correct the “mess,” claimed that because of scare tactics and lies employed by a certain individual he was manipulated and led down a path of no return, “one lie after another lie.” “I wanted to come out and say exactly what happened but I was afraid and was being guided. I have lost everything and I have nothing to lie about anymore. I have nothing to hide anymore,” said Dhansook, whose business has collapsed and his family life almost shattered.
“I never bribed Mr Khan or Williams. In fact, I never knew Williams,” he confessed.
“I knew Khan because we were childhood friends. I am sorry for what I did and the hurt I caused,” Dhansook said, as he openly explained the type of business relationship he had shared with Khan.
Snr Supt Solomon Koon Koon of the Anti Corruption Investigations Bureau visited Dhansook last week and questioned him in relation to the matter.
On January 7, 2006 seven warrants for Williams arrest were issued on a charge of misconduct in public office for corruptly receiving $75,000 in 2003. Williams who maintained his innocence, but "senior government members" predicted correctly that he would resign his ministerial portfolio on January 9, 2006. On January 9 the seven charges were laid indictably against Williams. He was granted bail of TT$
Trinidad and Tobago dollar
The dollar is the currency of Trinidad and Tobago. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively TT$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents...
600,000.
No PNM officials appeared at his hearings over the two year duration of the Preliminary Inquuiry, other than then Mayor of San Fernando Ian Atherly and former Councillor Cynthia Pipier of the Port-of-Spain City Corporation. However, three then Ministers, Fitzgerald Hinds, then a Minister of State and now a Senator in the Opposition, Dr. Keith Rowley
Keith Rowley
Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley is the Member of the House of Representatives for Diego Martin West in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. A geologist by training, Dr. Rowley has been the representative for Diego Martin West since 1991....
(who was being investigated by the Integrity Commission but has since been exhonerated while a member of the Cabinet and is now the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the PNM) and Diane Seukeran, former MP for San Fernando West and then a Minister of State spoke to the press in his defense.
On December 31, 2007, all charges against Mr. Williams were dismissed. His accuser Dansam Dhansook was declared to be 'manifestly unreliable as a witness' by Senior Magistrate L. Cardinez-Ragoonanan who presided over the Preliminary Inquiry into the charges.. see, http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,70644.html
...... Earlier, sitting in the Fourth Court, Magistrate Cardenas-Ragoonanan cited several inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, the most crucial being that the evidence of its main witness was “unreliable and inconsistent.”
During his testimony, Dhansook, a PNM Councillor and contractor with Terra Seis Seismic Surveys Limited, told the Court that he was at Balisier House when Williams demanded payments from him. However a few moments later Dhansook admitted, when given his original statement to the police to be read out under oath in the court, that on the same day he was at a Christmas party he held for his staff and that he clearly remembered because it was two days before his birthday. Yesterday, Cardenas-Ragoonanan said, “The fact that Mr Dhansook testified he was in two places at the same time when the plan was hatched, sent red flags of uncertainty. It was impossible that he could be at Balisier House (sic in Port of Spain) and at a staff party in Rio Claro, if by virtue of geography alone.” The Magistrate added, “I find the evidence tenuous...tenuous indeed, vague, uncertain and definitely not enough for any jury to convict on.”
Cardenas-Ragoonanan also ruled that there were several flaws in the allegation itself as there was no documentary evidence to support whether payments were made to Williams. “Mr Dhansook was unable to give specific times and occasions when the payments were allegedly made to Mr Williams, his evidence was tenuous, at worst unbelievable, a jury should not have to speculate. Therefore I find it that no prima facie case can be made out against Mr Williams on Dhansook’s evidence,” the magistrate said.