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Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Immigration
"At the time they were in there auditing the ministry was in there, the police was in there, FIU was in there - it's a hell of a situation in the department."

Jules Vasquez
"It says also that there was communications with you in which you gave an undertaking that any lag in sharing of documents you would personally see to it that it was resolved."

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"Yes and that happened, so the statements of the cooperation was pre that request. I immediately responded within the day and instructed the CEO to respond to the auditor general and to say that whatever she needs please suffice. Any documents that we would have please make sure you get them - that's the proper protocol."

Reporter
"Maybe they never got them."

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"Oh they got them. Whatever we had they got. I can tell you that, whatever was at the ministry audit got."

Jules Vasquez
"If there was not a deliberate attempt at obfuscation, why then would the minister have to get involve to say run it, send the thing?"

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"Well I don't think that it got beyond the administration. I think the auditor general simply wrote to me because she felt a bit frustrated and all I simply said to her was thank you, I was not aware. Direct the request to the CEO who will then respond and I think that's what she did and that continued. I don't think that the letter to me was a matter of saying well you know everybody is stonewalling so let me go - I think it was more to advised me that that is how they felt."

Jules Vasquez
"Mr. Wade, head of the nationality section is quoted as saying that all ministers would bring in the required documentation for passport applications later on. They would return with documentation most of the time."

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"I wasn't aware of that at all until I heard it from him. My position is very straight forward on that matter; the public officers who are in charge of that process know clearly the steps, but in a sense it doesn't matter if a minister comes in as a representative. I think many of them come in as representatives wanting to help the people in their constituencies and that is normal - and come in with documentation. The department has no responsibility to process anything until all the documentation is intact."

Jules Vasquez
"Mr. Wade also told the auditor general that "ministers are still bringing applications even after what happen in September 2013." What is your knowledge of this ingoing practice?"

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"Ministers will always bring applications. I think let us separate ministers from representatives; representatives who become ministers are still representatives and on behalf of their constituencies they advocate for their constituents. That is what they do and you have to separate that from ministers and if they come in with somebody or bring somebody to apply, it is nothing untoward. What would be untoward is if it is process incomplete or improperly - that is what would be untoward."

Jules Vasquez
"Okay, however we have Ady Pacheco saying to the auditor general, can only take her at her word, that she was intimidated by minister of state Elvin Penner."

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"I will repeat a thousand times Jules that I do not accept that at all. Let me tell you why. Ms. Pacheco enjoyed the confidence of this minister, the CEO and the director. She was our go to person in the department particular for the director. We spoke with her every day; she, Ms. Neal and everybody else including Mr. Wade knew that I had said over and over and over and over: it could have been the Prime Minister; it could have been anybody, nobody who would encourage you to do something that is wrong you would have to support. All you had to do is call me - that's all. All of them knew my number, knew my email - call me and will intervene forthwith and indeed there were occasions when ministers or other people may have wanted to push files to be completed and the director, Ms. Pacheco and several persons have spoken to me and say that they are not finish yet and the minister wants us to done - I speak to my colleague and say hold up, back off from immigration, these people have to do their work. Yes, if they are lagging behind and wasting time, that's a different matter. But you can't push them to a point where they will do a sloppy job or not complete the job properly. So I don't accept that explanation at all, especially coming from Minister Penner. I could not for the love of me see how Minister Penner could have intimidated anybody in that department."

Jules Vasquez
"Of course, who feels it knows it and you will accept that in both PUP and UDP there is no nice way to put it minister - state sanction hustling at the immigration department. Isn't it normal then to expect that when a elected official comes in and tells them I want you to do so and so, they just have to do it."

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"I am the senior minister, there is no way and everybody in immigration department knows, every single person know where I stand and the backative I have and they know that. So if this was some other minister that they knew, maybe this or maybe that - you could buy that. But if they knew that if they ever said to me - it had been said over and over - you call me. It could have been the Prime Minister and that wouldn't stand - so they knew that. I don't buy that for one moment; I definitely don't buy that from Mr. Wade, I definitely don't but that from Ms. Pacheco or anybody else in immigration - some minister went to pressure them. They know for a fact that there were bigger ministers that Minister Penner, senior ministers who would be calling and saying try process my document and they know that I have said minister the thing has to go in its process. I will not have anybody lamping up. There is nothing wrong in a minister saying to speed up the thing, the poor people are waiting and that's their constituents and I will say true, but it still has to go to its process and there are 10-15 ahead of them, so they have to wait."

Jules Vasquez
"Perhaps though that they could only raise to you things that were happening at the front desk, but as we now know there was a back door at the department of immigration where things were happening and you didn't know anything about what was happening behind that black door."

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"And maybe that's where the intimidation came in and maybe that's why people could not be openly saying to the minister... Jules, there is a funny thing in life you know, one of the reasons I can give you an interview any and every time because there is nobody out there, not in heaven nor in hell who could come forward and say but remember when he was.... and that is the basis to stand on."

There are credible reports of at least as many as 50 files that were secreted out of the department for which there is no official record.