$million furnishings at PM's residence

A report in the Newsday newspaper in Trinidad & Tobago Sunday said documents presented to the Commission of Enquiry into the construction sector and UDeCOTT show that the Shanghai Construction Company (SCG) billed UDeCOTT more than $3 billion for drapery and blinds for the Prime Minister’s Residence at St Ann’s.

The report said a letter from SCG managing director Michael Zhang dated June 28, 2007 to UDeCOTT's Chief Operating Officer Neelanda Rampaul, requested a 50 per cent down payment on the curtain bill for the project.

Newsday quoted from the letter: “We would like to take this opportunity to claim the down payment for the drapes and blinds on the UDeCOTT 615 Project...We have paid the subcontractors for drapery fabric supply and manufacture of drapes and blinds. The invoices are attached."

The paper said Zhang provided details showing:

• Drapery fabric - US$115,713 (or TT$733,621)
• Duty and Brokerage at a rate of 25 per cent - $183,405
• Manufacture of drapery and blinds - $1.3 million
• Overhead and profit carged 15 per cent - $343,898.

The paper said Zhang's invoice doe drapes and blinds amounted to $2,636,553.71, which included value added taxes (VAT). The letter asked for $1,318,276.86 as a down payment, urging UDeCOTT to process "this down payment as soon as possible so that we can perform the work smoothly and complete on time."

Newsday said the letter was copied to UDeCOTT executive chairman Calder Hart and its Chief Financial Officer, Safiya Noel.

Newsday said by March 14, 2008 the company delivered a second tax invoice, dated Feb. 26, 2008, showing a balance of $1,516,018 was due. The total of both invoices is $3,032,036.

Newsday said it found details of other expenditure that SCG billed to UDeCOTT for furniture installed inside of the Prime Minister’s Residence. They include $7 million for furniture and bedclothes, separate and apart from the curtains.

A letter dated September 12, 2007 from Zhang to Rampaul and copied to Hart and Noel, Zhang requested $6.5million for furniture supplied alongside the cost of bedclothes including pillow cases and bed sheets.

The master bedroom furniture cost an estimated $121,000, which included:

• a king-sized bed for $26,800 for the master bedroom
• two night stands at $6,400 each
• three items identified as “cabins” at $9,550 each
• a writing table $9,830
• two armchairs costing $6,870 each

Items in other rooms included:

• a TV cabinet that cost $23,800 in the “TV family room”
• a $3,270 “massage bed” in a room identified as a “gym”
• furniture totalling $21,900 in a room described as a “hairdressing salon”
• “game room” furniture for $56,890, including 12 armchairs at $2,850 apiece
• a “door” in one room cost $47,616

The Prime Minister’s Residence and Diplomatic Centre comprises a 20,084 sq ft diplomatic centre and a 35,797 sq ft prime ministerial residence. It is off limits to the general public and was first opened at a ceremony and media tour on August 29, 2007.

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Brown last September said the cost of the PM’s residence rose from $148 million to $175.3 million due to project variations.