T&T Gov't pre-empts Uff probe, orders forensic audit of Cleaver Heights

The Patrick Manning administration is refusing to give up on its quest to uncover discrepancies at the government's Cleaver Heights housing project in Arima which was started when Keith Rowley was housing minister. On two occasions Prime Minister Patrick Manning referred to missing millions of dollars under Rowley's watch and on both occasions the government housing agency has confirmed that there is no missing money. Now Manning is ordering a forensic audit for the project.

On Tuesday cabinet minister Dr Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde told the Senate the government has hired forensic investigator Bob Lindquist to investigate the controversial project. Dick-Forde is the Planning, Housing and the Environment Minister.

The project is a joint venture between government's Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and NH International Caribbean Ltd and is included in the terms of reference of the John Uff Commission of Enquiry into the Construction Sector and UDeCOTT, now taking place in Port-of-Spain.

In a written submission to the Uff commission, the HDC has cleared Rowley of any wrongdoing, but Gaynor Dick-Forde is not pleased with that report to the enquiry. She said that it why the government has engaged the services of Linguist.

She said the independent probe became necessary "following the observed discrepancies with the submissions by the management of the HDC." She spoke about "several concerns” with the draft document.

The HDC's statement filed on Jan. 21 was signed by its managing director, Margaret Chow apparently confirmed Rowley's version of the "missing $10 million" as an error, putting Manning's statement in Parliament in doubt. Rowley and the contractors had both said the so-called missing millions was really a clerical error and that no money was missing.

The minister told the Senate she has informed the commission that the HDC report is "untrue". In a detailed submission she lashed out against her own department saying the HDC report contained "inconsistencies and inaccuracies", pointing out that the project lacked "final regulatory approvals" from several governments agencies, including the ministry of works, the water and sewerage authority, the regional corporation as the town and country planning division. She said town and country only provided outline approval.

The minister outlined many concerns that she said that have not been answered satisfactorily by the management of the HDC, calling them "quite worrisome concerns". The include:

• The lack or absence of a signed contract between the (then) NHA, HDC and NHIC, on which the HDC draft submission was silent
• The inconsistencies in both the HDC and NHIC documents on the agreed contract price
• A variation sum of approximately 23 per cent of the contract sum of $133,129,000 was proposed by NHIC, of which 93 per cent has been paid to date
• NHIC appeared to have received full payment for the land. However, no documents have been lodged with the HDC to confirm NHIC’s ownership of the land title, which, to date, has not been transferred to the HDC nor to the beneficiaries

Dick-Forde said Government was particularly concerned about the contract price. She told the Senate that the components of the contract price "have been altered several times" in HDC’s and NHIC documents. She explained that was the reason why the government decided to bring in an independent investigator.

Rowley has so far declined comment on this development but political sources are wondering why the government is insisting on a "witch-hunt" on Cleaver Heights especially since the project is included in the Uff enquiry.

Opposition Senate leader Wade Mark said the attempt to implicate Rowley is a blatant abuse of public funds.

He said the Linguist probe is intended to erase the prime minister's embarrassment over statements he made in parliament pointing fingers at his former cabinet colleague.

He wonder why the same government that has consistently refused to probe the operations of UDeCOTT is now rushing to a project that's already under review by the Uff commission. he suggested that Linguist be better used as an investigator to assist the commission "in order to get at the heart of the corruption, irregularities and impropriety at UDeCOTT."

He also took a direct swing at the minister saying it is clear that the reason she found it necessary to send her own statement to the enquiry shows that she is not in charge of her ministry. And he concluded that the probe is no more than a personal vendetta against Rowley.