Energy Minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan has ordered an investigation into a contract between State owned National Quarries Ltd and Sunway Construction (Caribbean) Ltd, the firm alleged to have had family links to former UDeCOTT executive chairman Calder Hart and his wife, Sherinne Hart.
It relates to a multi-million-dollar quarrying contract between National Quarries and Sunway, formerly called CH Development. The contract gives Sunway the right to extract valuable blue limestone from Blanchissuese.
The deal was struck under the previous Manning PNM government as a take-or-pay contract to assist in the delivery of quarrying materials for building projects undertaken by the Manning administration.
Seepersad-Bachan said on Monday the country is not enjoying the benefits of the revenue derived from the mining operations.
She estimated that the State is losing $300 million a year in royalties and taxes from the unregulated sale and production of mineral resources.
The Sunway connection was documented in the Uff report on the Commission of Enquiry into UDeCOTT and the construction sector, which had called for a full-scale investigation into the award of an $885 million contract by UDeCOTT to CH Development to build the Tarouba cricket stadium, and a further $368 million contract to build the Ministry of Legal Affairs Tower in Port of Spain.
Hart had denied a relationship between his wife and two directors of Sunway. However documents have since verified the relationship.
It relates to a multi-million-dollar quarrying contract between National Quarries and Sunway, formerly called CH Development. The contract gives Sunway the right to extract valuable blue limestone from Blanchissuese.
The deal was struck under the previous Manning PNM government as a take-or-pay contract to assist in the delivery of quarrying materials for building projects undertaken by the Manning administration.
Seepersad-Bachan said on Monday the country is not enjoying the benefits of the revenue derived from the mining operations.
She estimated that the State is losing $300 million a year in royalties and taxes from the unregulated sale and production of mineral resources.
The Sunway connection was documented in the Uff report on the Commission of Enquiry into UDeCOTT and the construction sector, which had called for a full-scale investigation into the award of an $885 million contract by UDeCOTT to CH Development to build the Tarouba cricket stadium, and a further $368 million contract to build the Ministry of Legal Affairs Tower in Port of Spain.
Hart had denied a relationship between his wife and two directors of Sunway. However documents have since verified the relationship.
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