Unions reject JSC probe of UDeCOTT, call for commission of enquiry

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions (Fitun) has added its voice to the chorus of condemnation of Prime Minister Patrick Manning for failing to launch an independent public enquiry into the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UEeCOTT).

The organization's president, David Abdulah, on Wednesday rejected the proposal by Prime Minister Patrick Manning for a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament to undertake the investigation.

The parliamentary opposition has already dismissed the JSC probe and says it would participate in what it calls a farce and a kangarooo court.

See related story: UNC-A blanks Parliamentary probe of UDeCOTT

Abdullah told reporters, "We have to keep up the pressure to ensure there is a proper transparency process of investigation into all of the allegations that have been made."

Abdulah said the allegations against UDeCOTT are serious enough for the government to establish a commission of enquiry as well as conduct a forensic audit of the organization's operations.

In dismissing the JSC Abdullah said, "The JSC in our view does not have the same teeth that a commission of enquiry will have," noting that an enquiry would have judicial powers and could subpoena witnesses to have people give evidence under oath and organisations produce documentary evidence.

"The JSC does not have any of that power. A forensic audit, of course, is where you have specialists trained in auditing, following paper trails and determining precisely whether or not there is any evidence of wrongdoing," he said.

"I do not know that any MP would have that expertise. More than that, you are really asking three members of government to investigate themselves."

Abdullah pointed out that the government already has a position that there is no problem with UDeCOTT and there is nothing to investigate "therefore the position of the three government MP’s would be essentially to follow what the Prime Minister said."

He told the media if manning is so sure that there is nothing wrong at UDeCOTT "he should have absolutely no problem with having a commission of enquiry and a forensic audit because if you have no cocoa in the sun you would not ‘fraid rain’."

Abdulah said, "The fact that he is not going in that direction would suggest that there is cocoa in the sun and that UDeCOTT has been a runaway institution and that Calder Hart has operated with far too much power."

He wondered how Manning could say he had not received a single complaint about UDeCOTT when "the JCC released to media a dossier of letters and documentation’s written to the PM and other ministers about problems at Udecott."

Abdullah noted that his organization wrote to the Minister of Planning last November requesting a meeting and one of the issues on the agenda was about UDeCOTT. He said the minister merely acknowledged the letter.

He also noted Keith Rowley's concerns as a senior cabinet minister and his public complaints about UDeCOTT.

"Rowley as a member of Cabinet said there were problems with lack of oversight. So I don’t think you need anything stronger than a senior member of Cabinet, who at one time had responsibility as Minister of Planning for UDeCOTT," Abdulah said.