Why did Warner apologise to T&T foreign minister?

This blog is puzzled by a report in the Trinidad Guardian, stating that Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner has apologised to Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon for his comments about the cost of this country’s new consulate office in Toronto.

It said the MP told Parliament on Monday night that there is a $20 million discrepancy in the cost of the property. Warner said the T&T Government paid a cheque to the value of Can$4.25 million (about $24.5 million) for the purchase of property at 185 Sheppard Avenue West, Toronto, Canada.

Warner also said there were provisions in the 2010 estimates for $46.2 million to be allocated for the project.

None of this is inaccurate and Warner's information was correct.

Read the story: $20 discrepancy ...

Gopee-Scoon confirmed that the Toronto property for the Trinidad and Tobago Consulate in the city was bought for $24.5 million and not $46 million.

The closing date of the property was Tuesday, September 15, 2009 for the full list price of Cdn$4.25.

And the budget documents for 2010 state that there was an allocation of TT$46.2 million for the purchase of the property. So based on that, Warner's information was accurate.

He was referring to government documents showing that there is money to the tune of more than $20 million set aside for the purchase, when the government knew that the agreed sale price was the amount the minister said - TT$24.5 Million (Cdn$4.25).

The minister did not explain why the 2010 budget allocation put aside more than $46 million for the Toronto property when the deal to buy the real estate was accepted and signed on July 23, 2009, long before the new budget documents were prepared.

Click here to see the MLS listing

The Guardian reported that Warner apologised to Gopee-Scoon. “If I erred in any way, I apologise,” he the paper quoted him as saying.

We cannot comprehend why Warner would apologize for stating facts that are contained in budget documents, especially when the minister corroborated the story by confirming the sale price.

We also question whether the rationale for the purchase is to take advantage of falling real estate prices. It is a fact that property values have dropped in Toronto and it is therefore a buyer's market.

What that means is that anyone buying a property has leeway to negotiate a better deal. In the case of the Toronto property, the government did not buy at a reduced price.

According to real estate sources in Toronto, it would have been easy to pay less for the property. They note that the listing was on the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) for three months, which might indicate an inflated price.

Under such circumstances a buyer could possibly beat the price down, getting a reduction of between 10 and 20 per cent.

What our sources also indicate is that not only did the Trinidad and Tobago government not get a lower price, the purchase agreement was made AFTER the MLS listing agreement ended, which is most unusual.

According to the real estate documents the property was listed for Cdn$4.25 Million from April 02, 2009 to June 30, 2009. The agreement to buy was made on July 23, 2009, three weeks after the MLS listing expired. And the purchase price was 100 per cent of the asking price of Cdn$4.25 million.

That's the amount the government paid when it closed the deal on Tuesday. Which still leaves a question about why the additional $21 million was put in the estimates for the same transaction.

If it was a clerical error then the minister needs to say so; if not she still needs to explain where that extra money is going. And we maintain that Warner stated facts and there was no need for any apology.