AFTER some controversy, the Parliamentary Office yesterday handed over a percentage of the assets belonging to the Office of the Leader of the Opposition to People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira.In an interview at Freedom House, Teixeira told the Chronicle that upon arrival at the Hadfield Street building, where the Leader of the Opposition’s Office was once located, she was informed that only a percentage of the assets was available for the new office.

“We were only allowed to take some desks and some chairs; one copier, a water dispenser and a book case,” the former Presidential Advisor on Governance told this newspaper. Upon enquiring, she was reportedly told that the remaining items will be available at a later date.

“So we properly got 1/3 of what is on the list that is required for us. No computers at all. There are desktop computers in addition to laptops which we were supposed to get. No computers, no laptops, no printer copiers,” she complained.

Teixeira added: “This intrusion of the Ministry of the Presidency into what is strictly a handover between Parliament Office and the new Office of the Leader of the Opposition is unacceptable. It is unconstitutional actually. The government has no role to play in a handover between Parliament Office and the Leader of the Opposition.”

The new Leader of the Opposition’s Office, which is now located at Church Street, Georgetown, is being rented at a cost of $400,000, the same cost at which the old office was being rented.

With the hope of receiving all of the assets in a timely manner, the Opposition Chief Whip said, the Leader of the Opposition’s Office will commence operation by October 22.
However, in offering greater clarity to the situation, Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, confirmed that only a percentage of the assets was handed over yesterday, but he said the remainder will be delivered next Tuesday.

However, according to discussions with Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, Isaacs said it is not likely that the computers would be handed over to the Opposition. “I am told that the computers may not be handed over because there is information on those computers. Even though they would have taken off some, things will still remain,” he explained.

As a result, the Clerk said, the Parliamentary Office will purchase an undisclosed number of computers from the $3M budgetary allocation which was made available for the Leader of the Opposition’s Office in the 2015 Budget.
“We have $3M under capital for Leader of the Opposition for 2015, we may have to use a part of that to purchase computers, if the computers are not handed over, and my understanding from speaking with Mr. Harmon earlier in the week is that the computers may not be handed over.”

By Svetlana Marshall