CDA refutes Rowley's claims about alleged $40m bribe demand

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) on Monday told the Trinidad Express newspaper that there is no truth in allegations made at a news conference by opposition leader Keith Rowley.

 

Rowley told reporters that the lowest bidder in a multi-billion-dollar entertainment mecca due to be constructed in Chaguaramas was asked for  bribe. 

 

"And I can tell you that one of the bidding processes, the lowest bidder was approached for a $40 million bribe. And when the bidder could not entertained it, the project was shelved," he told the media.

 

But Rowley did not provide any evidence to support his charges. In fact he made it clear he didn't even know who is the contractor because he asked the CDA to say who is the selected contractor, what process was used to select the contractor and what were the bids.

 

But the CDA has refuted Dr Rowley's claims. CEO Joclyn Hargreaves told the newspaper there has been no project within the CDA with that level expenditure in the past ten years. 

 

She also said phase two of the boardwalk project was less than this claim and made it clear that there is full accountability and transparency through public tendering process. The process, she said, was fully compliant with the tendering policy.