A report in the Trinidad Express states that documents obtained from the Malaysian Government show that UDeCOTT executive chairman, Calder Hart has family links to a firm that won a multi-million-dollar Government contract, awarded through UDeCOTT.Hart has always denied any family links to CH Development and Construction. But the Express report says the documents it has obtained show that Hart's wife, Sherrine Lee Hart, is related to at least one director of the firm.
The disclosure comes on the eve of a legal effort by Hart’s legal team to try to block the delivery of the report of the UFF Commission of Enquiry into the Construction Sector and UDeCOTT.
President Max Richards had requested the report by February 28, 2010. But the commission had to delay the report pending the outcome of the court matter, which is scheduled to be heard Friday.
The Express said it has seen the Malaysian passports, birth and marriage certificates of Sherrine Lee Hart, her sister and one of the directors of the firm CH Development Ltd, which got the $360m contract for the construction of the Ministry of Legal Affairs Tower in 2005.
Hart awarded the contract to CH in his capacity as then chairman of UDeCOTT.
The Express said the documents are from the official registry of Malaysia. It says one birth certificate shows Sherrine Lee Hart was born in Malaysia in 1961 and her official name was Lee Soh Wah.
The document lists her father’s name as Lee Fook Piau and her mother is called Wong Ah Moi.
A marriage certificate, written both in Malaysian and translated into English dated March 19, 1996 shows Sherrine Lee Hart’s younger sister, Lee Soeh Ching, was married to Ng Chin Poh, the paper said.
The certificate lists a man called Lee Hup Seng as a witness to the marriage, and states that he’s the brother of Lee Soeh Ching and therefore, Sherrine Lee Hart, the Express reported.
According to the Express, the articles of incorporation for the firm CH Development and Construction Ltd in T&T, dated October 19, 2004, lists Lee Hup Ming and Ng Chin Poh as directors of the firm, which registered its address at No 7, The Park, La Quette, Road, Glencoe.
The firm won a $360-million contract to build the Ministry of Legal Affairs Tower although document from the registry of Malaysia showed that the men previously were involved in a Malaysian company that had no experience in any type of construction work.
The Express said the documents link the men to a company called Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM) which dealt in "assembling and trading in souvenir and consumer items."
Hart's lawyers dismissed all the allegations during closing arguments at the Uff inquiry last year.
Read more on the story in NEWSDAY
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