Volney said that evidence could lead to Rowley's expulsion from Parliament and the loss of his post as leader of the opposition.
Volney said his source is a Tobagonian owner of dump-trucks, back-hoes and heavy equipment. He said the source claimed that certain materials were picked up at Scarborough Hospital and taken to Landate. He said the name of the source has been passed on to the Attorney General.
However Rowley dismissed the matter, saying Landate been queried since 2003, and that he has been cleared by a commission of inquiry and by two investigations by the Integrity Commission.
He also said the courts have already dismissed Volney’s source as being "a pack of lies".
Rowley told reporters, "As a citizen, it really bothers me to think Mr Volney was a judge in this country...One associates a judge with a certain kind of perspective and behaviour and Mr Volney falls far short of that."
Rowley reminded reporters that former opposition MP Ganga Singh made the Landate allegations in which he stated that Rowley was getting a facility from NH International to do his own construction in Tobago.
Landate was a housing development project in which Rowley had an interest through his wife, Sharon; the head of the construction company had a close relationship with Rowley.
"My wife bought a piece of land, hired a contractor in Tobago to do a road development, land development,” Rowley said.
Rowley named Volney's source as Barrington Thomas, a member of the national executive of the United National Congress. However Thomas does not own any heavy equipment as stated by Volney, therefore Volney's source is likely another person.
The opposition leader stated that the commission of inquiry into Landate found that he was not guilty of any wrongdoing "and the testimony of the sole person making the allegation - Barrington Thomas - was deemed to be a pack of lies.”
When Patrick Manning, who was prime minister at the time, asked the Integrity Commission to investigate Rowley, he (Rowley) objected and went to court on the grounds that he was not advised of any investigation.
When Patrick Manning, who was prime minister at the time, asked the Integrity Commission to investigate Rowley, he (Rowley) objected and went to court on the grounds that he was not advised of any investigation.
A court ruled that the commission was out of line and all members of the commission resigned.
A report in the Newsday newspaper said its sources have said a police probe into the Landate matter is being conducted by the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) and that it should be completed soon.
The paper said ACIB sources said a file on the Landate probe is to be sent to Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard SC for directions.
A report on the Landate commission of inquiry quoted one witness as saying that his company removed "an enormous amount of material from the Scarborough hospital project to the Landate project at Mason Hall", in some cases without a materials transfer slip.
The evidence was presented before the commission by Anthony Sookram, operations manager of P. Ramnarine Rental Services based in Lowlands, Tobago.
Sookram stated that the transport jobs from the Scarborough project to Landate were on February 1, 4, 5, 7, 13, 19 and 25, 2004. He claimed that the jobs required him to transport thousands of concrete blocks, a variety of sand and mixed aggregrate as well as cement.
 |
| File: A gate pass for the transport of material from the Scarborough Hospital Project to the Landate project |
The report stated that letters showed that Mair and Company—Nipdec’s attorneys—wrote former DPP Henderson in July 2008, seeking confirmation on whether the state intended to prosecute in connection with the report of the commission of enquiry on the alleged removal of materials from the hospital site.
Henderson replied that in September 2006, he had referred to the CoP, a report on the breaches of the code of conduct of the Integrity in Public Life act allegedly committed by MP Keith Rowley, the report stated.
No comments:
Post a Comment