Transparency Institute likes Jack's 'free road' idea

The Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) thinks the suggestion by Works Minister Jack Warner for contractors build a free road as a gift to the nation is a good idea.

However TTTI said it would be an "unwelcome development" if the contractors expect special treatment for building the free road.

Warner made the suggestion last Monday when he launched a $14 million road re-development project in Barrackpore.

He also said he would ask all contractors working on road projects to meet with him to discuss issues affecting them. He said the aim of the meeting would be to try to assist in solving those problems.

He said he would ask them to "give" him a road free as a gift to the nation. The president of the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association, Mikey Joseph, doesn't like the idea and has described the suggestion as "immoral and unscrupulous".

However the TTTI stated in a media release Tuesday that it "endorses the spirit of co-operation between Government and private sector in the improvement of communities".

It cautioned, however, that there must not be any "payback" for the free road. "If however, there is any expectation on the part of participating contractors for preference, priority or influence in the procurement of public sector contracts, this would be an unwelcome development," TTTI said.