?The return of Calder Hart to Trinidad after a period of respite in Florida that lasted more than a month provides the relevant agencies with an opportunity to question him on his stewardship of the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott).
Mr Hart served as chairman of Udecott between 2002 and 2006 and as the company's executive chairman between 2006 and March 6 this year, when he tendered his resignation following a conversation with Prime Minister Patrick Manning the previous day. In the eight years that he ran Udecott, the company was responsible for the management of the construction of buildings worth billions of dollars. It is now clear from a reading of the report of the Uff Commission of Enquiry that probed many of the Udecott projects during the period of Mr Hart's leadership that he has many questions to answer.
In the report that spans over 500 pages, three issues stand out:
�2 The Commission of Enquiry recommends that there should be an investigation into Udecott's failure to control and reduce delays at the Government Campus project.
�2 The commission recommends that there should be a full investigation into the award by Udecott of the Ministry of Legal Affairs contract to CH Development, "including the role of Mr Calder Hart and the conduct of the board in not ensuring that an enforceable guarantee was given by the parent company of CH Development."
�2 The commission also recommends a "full investigation" into the award of five construction packages at the Brian Lara project in Tarouba with specific reference to issues touching on the advance payments made to the contractor.
The real question is whether Mr Hart will ever be called upon to account for the many failures of corporate governance, oversight and management control at Udecott. The way in which the current administration has treated Mr Hart would seem to indicate that there is little chance that the Canadian-born executive will be called upon to account before the general election, which is due to be held in a little less than three months. As the last Sunday Guardian reported, Mr Hart returned to Trinidad just as he left–surrounded by a cocoon of exclusive privilege only granted to one of this country's most favoured sons, even one who was not born here. The reports indicate that Mr Hart was given the facility of using the VIP lounge.
While it may be understandable for the chairman of five state-owned companies to be granted VIP status, surely the rationale for him being granted that privilege should have been stripped from him when he was forced to resign as the chairman of the companies. The Government also seems to have been unusually accommodating in the way in which it facilitated Mr Hart's departure: the Prime Minister himself had a discussion with him and the timing of the announcement of his resignation was only made after departure. The Government did the right thing by holding the Commission of Enquiry, ensuring that it was held in public, rescuing it when it faced the possibility of being derailed, and then facilitating the publication of the ensuing report. Will the Government ensure that Mr Hart and the Udecott directors are made to respond to questions about their failures in a way that ensures that T&T learns from their many mistakes and never repeats them?