The opposition UNC-Alliance in Trinidad and Tobago is demanding a commission of inquiry into what it calls official corruption into how government agencies award contracts.
It follows a disclosure in Parliament Friday that of massive cost overruns in the construction of a cancer treatment centre.
Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj held a news conference during the tea break at which he told reporters the opposition wants such an enquiry to go way beyond the single project. Maharaj said the government must be held accountable for the purchase and leasing arrangements for two blimps and scrutinize the award of contracts and consultancies by UDeCOTT, which he described as "a runaway horse".
He said the probe should also look at the purchase of properties by the agency, which is headed by Canadian Calder Hart. Maharaj claimed that there was "across the board" corruption in all ministries and government departments.
He said it is worse in state enterprises. The former Attorney general said it appears that the whole tendering process has been abandoned and in some cases one or two people determine how to spend billions of state funds.
He cited several examples including private security, claiming that in one ministry a relative of the minister in charge is getting all the work. And he spoke about nepotism in at least two other ministries, one case involving a minister’s son and another where a relative of a female minister benefits from lucrative contracts.
Maharaj said the energy sector is a prime example of how government is abusing the process of warding contracts and consultancies.
Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday told reporters in order to maintain balance and transparency any commission of enquiry should include members representing various interest groups.
Oncology Centre
The Opposition demands came on a day when Health Minister Jerry Narace admitted to MPs that more than $100 million had been spent on building the National Oncology Centre, which remains far from complete.
Narace told the House the project has been experiencing immense problems from contractors who have been pushing up the costs. The minister was responding to questions from former Health Minister and member for Caroni Central, Dr Hamza Rafeeq.
Narace said the problems involved the firing of one contractor and court proceedings involving another. He revealed that the budget for the centre was $341 million. He claims it will be finished by the middle of 2009.
He said the contract to Ellis Don as Construction Manager (CM) of the centre was budgeted at $151 million, adding that so far that has gone up by 19 per cent – just under $29 million. Last year, he said, the government rejected a revised budget of $241 million that Ellis Don submitted. He told members Ellis Don refused to reconsider its budget, so now the government is looking at other options for completing the centre.
Ellis Don is an international construction company with an impressive track record in the construction of massive commercial structures and public institutions. It has qualified for listing in Canada's 50 Best managed Companies for 2007.
He also disclosed that the government also had problems with another company - Comprehensive Care International (CCI) - that was responsible for the non-construction components of the centre, including design, construction supervision, procurement of equipment and project management.
He said in October 2007 the company submitted proposals for an extension of 30 months at an increased cost of $96 million, which the government rejected. A legal dispute between the government and the government is under arbitration at the moment, Narace said.
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