The Integrity Commission says it is working assiduously to conclude its investigations into former Attorney General, Anand Ramlogan over a multi-million-dollar contract for ambulance services.
A statement issued by the commission on Wednesday responded to an article in the Sunday Express about its three-year-long probe.
"Although this particular complaint was submitted before the commencement of the term of office of the 17th Commission, the commission is working assiduously to conclude the matter referenced in the above-mentioned article as soon as possible."
Defending its process, the commission said its investigations involved three "distinct" phases.
It said the first was to do a careful examination regarding a complaint, after which relevant findings were produced.
The second phase, it said, is to provide people in public life and those exercising public functions against whom adverse findings are made "with a full opportunity to respond to same in accordance with the Integrity in Public Life Act Chapter 22:01 (“the IPLA”)."
The last stage, the commission said, requires a detailed examination of the responses of the people who were to be given the opportunity to be heard.
"Very often, this involves further enquiries being made based on the responses received," the commission said.
"Upon completion of the first two phases, the final investigative report is submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) if the commission is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence has been committed.
"However, if the commission is satisfied that there are insufficient grounds for continuing the investigation or that the complaint is frivolous, vexatious or not made in good faith, the investigation is terminated."
The 17th Commission was installed in January 2021, after the probe began in 2020. Despite this, it said on assuming office in January 2021, it sought to re-engineer the operations of the commission, including the establishment of timelines for the investigation process to ensure untimely delays become a thing of the past.
It also urged complainants to constantly check the online tracking system to ascertain the status of their complaints through its new online tracking system.
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