Padarath: Follow ‘due process’ before laying TSTT report in House
Written by Andrew Gioannetti on January 27, 2025
PRINCES TOWN MP and shadow minister for public utilities Barry Padarath has temporarily softened his calls for the 2023 TSTT cyber-attack report to be laid in Parliament.
He said concerns raised by former executives believed to be named in the report should be heard.
The report, prepared by cyber security and risk reduction firm Kudelski Security, details the October 9, 2023 cyber attack on TSTT that compromised the data of hundreds of thousands of customers.
Although Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales announced on January 23 that the report would be laid in Parliament, attorneys for former TSTT CEO Lisa Agard and ex-CFO Shiva Ramnarine, through attorney Karina Singh, have threatened legal action to block its release.
The attorneys said neither of their clients was given access to the report nor allowed to respond to its findings.
Gonzales said he received the report on January 23 and intended to lay it in Parliament, but needed Cabinet’s approval.
He also said his lawyers planned to respond to Singh on January 27.
Pararath, speaking with Newsday on the same day, said although he has been vocal in calling for the report’s immediate release, he also supports allowing the courts to address the concerns raised by the former executives before the report is made public.
“I understand the circumstances are such that those named in the report have initiated legal action. Due process must be followed for all parties involved,” he said.
Padarath stressed that the public has a right to the report’s findings. However, he said it was important for the government to respect Agard’s and Ramnarine’s right to legal recourse, owing to the uncertainty surrounding the report’s contents and potential implications for those implicated.
“The minister has assured that the government intends to make the report public, and I think the country is anxiously awaiting it.
“It’s been over a year and a half since this attack, and almost one million subscribers have had their information exposed on the dark web. People are very much concerned about this issue.
“However, due process means allowing those who have taken action to have their matters resolved appropriately in the courts.”
Gonzales initially denied the cyber attack was a ransomware incident.
TSTT later confirmed the attack, and Agard and Ramnarine were dismissed shortly after. Ramnarine’s contract was terminated with immediate effect.
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