The board of the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce has taken a decision to keep Gabriel Faria as its CEO. A meeting was held on Monday to determine whether Faria would remain as head of the Chamber, after his private messages criticizing the government were leaked last week.

The Chamber head came under heavy attack from Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley last Wednesday, after WhatsApp conversations with another person were leaked online, showing Faria expressing his dissatisfaction with government’s management of the country. “I think you are making assumptions about the responsible and ethical behaviour of politicians,” Faria wrote, adding “there is no interest in being responsible or ethical or treating either the citizens or businesses with respect or fairly.”

In a public apology one day later, Faria hinted that his position as head of the business chamber could be lost because of the incident, saying “The Board of the Chamber has requested to meet to decide the way forward on this issue”

On Monday afternoon, the Chamber issued a statement affirming Faria’s value to the organization. 

“Over the past 3 years Mr. Faria has helped to build a strong and effective Chamber of Commerce, as a credible advocate for our members and the wider business community. The Board would like to reaffirm the role of the TT Chamber, as an advocacy body committed to the highest standards of enterprise, to pursue collaborative and constructive dialogue with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the business sector,” it said.

Of Mr. Faia’s public upset, it said “The Board is of the view and Mr. Faria agrees, that he should always be mindful of his role and obligations as the Chief Executive Officer of the TT Chamber.”