Government has officially appointed 6 individuals to serve on the newly established Trade Commission, which will seek to enforce the Consumer Protection Act in the territory to protect consumers from price gouging.
Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Andrew Fahie made the announcement during a recent press conference, where he disclosed that Michael Fay will be the new Chairman and Sasha Hodge the Deputy Chairwoman.
He said, “The names of the appointees, as approved by Cabinet after the independent process, are: Melissa Farara, Hakim Creque, Wendell Gaskin, Lavina Liburd, the Trade Commissioner as Ex-officio, Deputy Chairman Sasha Hodge and Michael Fay – Chairman.”
“We congratulate those who have been successful in being selected. We also thank the other persons who applied but were not successful, and we encourage them to apply for other positions when applications are invited in areas where they are qualified,” he added.
No political involvement during process
Premier Fahie also put to rest any false narrative that would suggest that the members were selected as a result of political bias.
He said the process was independent of any elected official, adding that everyone who was appointed to the board went through a fair and transparent procedure.
“The selection of the persons to serve on the Trade Commission was done through an independent process. There was no involvement in the selection process by any elected official. There was no hand-picking by any elected official,” Premier Fahie said.
He added, “Persons would recall that advertisements were published inviting persons interested in serving to apply. The shortlisting was done by a committee in accordance with the criteria stipulated in the Act, and no elected official was involved in this process. Additionally, the Governor had his input at the appropriate stage in Cabinet, for which we thank him.”