In his budget presentation this week former cabinet minister Keith Rowley told the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament figures for government projects are inaccurate."I can tell you without fear of contradiction every statement about these projects being within budget and within time, every one is a wrong statement," he declared.
Read the story: It's a lie...
On Tuesday, Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert challenged Rowley and dismissed as "inaccurate" and "unsustainable" Rowley's criticisms that the People's National Movement (PNM) administration.
"I really had a difficulty listening to one of my colleagues, listening to a PNM member, making statements about the PNM Government getting a bonanza and blowing it," Imbert said. But he didn't provide evidence to refute what Rowley alleged.
"I think in his cold, sober moments, he would realise that what he has said is not accurate. And I have some advice for him—he may not wish to take it—(but) he really needs to do some introspection because the statements that my colleague made are just not accurate and not sustainable."
Rowley claimed the Government wasted $100 million in the Ministry of Legal Affairs Tower and Chancery Lane projects. Rowley added that in the case of the Legal Affairs Tower, UDeCOTT awarded a $368 million to one bidder even though another contractor bid $60 million less.
Imbert admitted that the lowest bidder, Hafeez Karamath Ltd, and Johnson Construction Company, the second lowest bidder, did not get the contract but the third lowest bidder, CH Development Ltd, a subsidiary of Malaysia-based Sunway, got it for good reason.
"It has been stated repeatedly that the reason why Karamath was not awarded the contract was because Karamath was busily occupied with many other projects, including the Brian Lara cricket facility, and that Karamath did not have the capacity," Imbert said.
He said that similarly, Johnson's resources were also stretched thin, while Sunway was a new entrant to the local construction industry and had "no capacity issues".
Sunway has been the centre of controversy because of its alleged connection to UDeCOTT executive chairman, Calder Hart. Carl Khan, a witness in the Commission of Enquiry into the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) and the construction sector, produced copies of a document that identifies Mg Chin Poh, the brother-in-law of Hart, as a director of the company that was awarded a $368 million contract to construct the Ministry of Legal Affairs Tower.
Opposition MP Ramesh L. Maharaj had also alleged that Chin Poh, who is Hart's wife's sister's husband, and her brother, Lee Hup Ming, were the directors and shareholders of CH development.
Read the story in the Trinidad Express
Hart's lawyers promptly denied claims made Khan, who had also produced legal documents to show that he was previously married to Hart's wife.
Read the story in Newsday
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