POLITICAL analyst Dr Shane Mohammed says he sees no problem with the appointment of political commentator Dr Winford James as deputy chairman of the recently assigned Studley Park Enterprises Ltd (SPEL) board.

On Monday, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said James' appointment was under review after concerns were raised in the public domain.

James, the brother of Trevor James, the THA's Secretary of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Renewal – the division responsible for the Studley Park Quarry – was among 11 committee members appointed for a year to oversee the quarry's operations.

Speaking with Newsday on Tuesday, Mohammed said the appointment could be looked at in two ways.

“Everything in this country has gone out of context. People don’t contextualise scenarios and situations and analyse it in the context by which it is existing. The second thing we must look at is people’s competence, their ability to perform, their qualification, their years of experience and what they bring to the table.”

He added: “We tend to forget also that in this country, we’ve had at one point in time the prime minister appointing his wife as a minister of his government, and she served as minister of education and minister of local government. Both portfolios in which she excelled in, and she added value to our country.

"So we must not be so quick to criticise and to dismiss such appointments.”

He said the larger picture must be looked at.

“The fact that Dr James was appointed by his brother to a state enterprise to serve as deputy chairman is not even comparable with what is happening at a national level where the government is paying the former attorney general’s relative, as in his wife, sums of money in rent and nobody seems to be batting an eye lid.

"That has become a nine-day wonder. That existed from 2015 to 2020 and the government was still re-elected.”

He said the chatter should be ignored, as people are making a lot of noise without putting perspectives and context to the situation.

“If someone’s wife, someone’s brother, someone’s sister, someone’s uncle, someone’s aunt holds a certain level of competence, skills, education, experience why should that prevent them from serving in any capacity within an administration where a brother or a sister or a husband or a wife may be a secretary or a minister – I find it foolish.”

Meanwhile, chairman of the Tobago Business Chamber Martin George described the situation as "James squared."

[caption id="attachment_948327" align="alignnone" width="874"] Martin George -[/caption]

“While I'm confident of the abilities and value which Dr Winford James brings to the table, and I am also confident of his professionalism, his appointment to a board under a division led by his brother Trevor James does not look good; and it is no answer to say that 'others did worse.'”

George said he wanted the current THA administration to hold themselves up to the standard of "those who do better, not to those who do worse."

“There's a saying in the law that justice must