President of the Law Association Martin Daly and Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj yesterday condemned Culture Minister Marlene McDonald's decision not to reveal the names of persons who were awarded scholarships by the Ministry of Culture, Community Development and Gender Affairs.

"A complete perversion of the Constitution. It is indefensible because it is public funds and if you make the payment of public funds a private matter, then that is a recipe for the misappropriation of funds," Daly stated.

McDonald refused to give the information in response to a question in Parliament on Tuesday, citing the Freedom of Information Act.

But Maharaj, who as Attorney General piloted the FOI, stated yesterday that the Culture Minister had "completely misconceived the provisions of the act and the law on privacy".

"The FOI creates a duty and an obligation on the Government to provide government-held information," he said.

He added that it was a statutory right of every individual to ask for information under the FOI. But, he stressed, what the Parliament was dealing with on Tuesday was the duty of the Government to provide information on public expenses, the purposes and in whose names those benefits were obtained.

"And there is no law that obstructs the Government from giving that information in the Parliament," Maharaj stated.

Noting that the Freedom of Information Act cannot be used by a private citizen to find out about the financial affairs of other persons, Maharaj said there was a distinction between that and the duty of ministers, under the Constitution and the Standing Orders, to answer questions in the Parliament relating to public expenditure. He said this was necessary to show that there was no nepotism or corruption.

"That is at the heart of a responsible and accountable Government," he said, adding that Government was becoming more and more secret.

Daly said the public was entitled to know where its money was going. "Suppose, it is probably not the case, but suppose it was all the Minister's -not this Minister-relatives who are not properly qualified (for scholarships). It is ridiculous!" he said.