British professor to head UDeCOTT probe

After a two-month wait, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has named the Commission of Enquiry into the construction industry and UDeCOTT (Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited). It will be headed by British jurist, Prof. John Uff.

Government House Leader Colm Imbert said Wednesday Uff is a "a world-renowned expert in construction practice, engineering and law."

Read Prof. Uff's profile

He said the other three members of the commission would be citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. Their appointments would be finalized in the next few weeks, he said.

Imbert told the House of Representatives, "It should now be apparent that the Government had approached this very serious matter in a responsible and professional manner". He said Government wanted to make sure that the person who was eventually selected had the ability to conduct "this important task in the proper manner".

He added, "Because of the nature of the enquiry, the chairman's credentials had to be impeccable and beyond reproach. Ironically, it is axiomatic that if we had not approached this assignment properly, the same people who are criticising us for taking too long to commence the enquiry would have condemned us for making a poor selection".

Imbert justified the choice of a foreigner to lead the enquiry by suggesting that no local was capable of handling the assignment.

"After consideration of other potential chairmen in the domestic environment, it soon became apparent that because of the comprehensive nature of the enquiry and the interlocking interests in the local construction sector, it would be difficult to find a chairman in Trinidad and Tobago who would not be deemed to be unacceptable by local interest groups, for one reason or another".

In the House Wednesday, Opposition Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj criticized Government for dragging the process.

Latee at a news conference he charged that Government wanted to kill public interest in the whole issue and allow "the perpetuators to proceed untrammelled in the nefarious acts."

Maharaj was not impressed with timetable and suggested that it would be a "useless enquiry." He said the start of hearings in January means UDeCOTT has "all the time in the world" to destroy documents and records relating to all the transactions which have been criticised.

He said Uff "would be impotent to deal with matters in which there is no evidence...in which evidence has been destroyed".

Maharaj was also not impressed with Uff's credentials, saying a check with the Who's Who in law in London would uncover thousands of people like him.

Maharaj charged that Government intends to continue frustrating any proper investigation in serious allegations of misconduct at UDeCOTT nand suggested that it should have appointed the Commission within two weeks of the PM's announcement in the Parliament two months ago.

He suggested that the Government could have appointed one of the many retired local judges or could have approached Chief Justice Ivor Archie to provide a sitting judge for the assignment.

Maharaj said the Manning was never serious about investigating UDeCOTT, noting that the enquiry is now lumped with an investigation into the entire construction sector.

He said if the PM was really serious, he would be appointed an Independent Counsel and provided a special forensic team to the DPP even before the Commission of Enquiry started.

He served notice that the Opposition would file a motion of no-confidence in the Prime Minister in the context of his role in respect of the contracts given to Sunway and in the context of Calder Hart's front-row seat at the People's National Movement's convention.