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TEMPERS flared during a heated session of the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) yesterday as Justice Minister Devesh Maharaj revealed that legal fees had ballooned to nearly $100 million, while House Speaker Jagdeo Singh issued an apology for comments made during the proceedings.

The SFC was reviewing a supplemental allocation of $89.4 million for the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs.

Maharaj said the Attorney General had indicated growing demands on the criminal justice system, particularly with respect to white-collar crime. “He told me he is particularly swamped in this at this point in time,” Maharaj stated, adding that when the UNC Government came into office, there was so little left in the vote that, “there was no money remaining to pay legal fees,” not even to “buy a doubles.”