Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said yesterday arbitration talks between the Government of T&T and British ship-building firm BAE Systems Ltd have cost the State close to $200 million.
Ramlogan made the revelation during yesterday's post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair. On Tuesday, the two-year arbitration hearings ended in the United Kingdom. The hearings began after the Government cancelled a contract for the purchase of three OPVs. The Government said BAE was in breach of the contract after two of the OPVs were not ready by the specified dates.
Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley had warned against cancelling the contract, saying the State would have had to pay billions of dollars for doing so. One of Scotland's leading newspapers, the Evening Times, reported yesterday that BAE was to be paid £130 million by the Government after it won the arbitration hearings.
The article, written by Gordon Thomson, said:?"Clyde shipyard bosses have won a £130 million compensation battle with high-ranking government officials in Trinidad and Tobago." Ramlogan said he wanted to speak with the media for the second consecutive day to clear up inaccuracies about the agreement.
He disputed international media reports about the State having to pay the British firm £130 million. Ramlogan insisted yesterday that the Government paid "not one red cent" to BAE and the report was false. The AG said the report might have been based on a recent publication in the T&T Guardian about his seeking Cabinet approval for $1.3 billion to settle arbitration proceedings.
He denied the existence of any Cabinet note to support that claim. Ramlogan is expected to make a comprehensive statement in the House of Representatives this afternoon on the matter. He said none of the media reports had quoted BAE.
He said under the settlement, T&T is to receive almost $1.4 billion from BAE Systems Ltd and emphasised that under the agreement there was no requirement for Government to pay any money to the ship-building firm.
The AG said BAE was seeking $600 million from the Government, but "we have not had to pay one red cent to BAE. Those are the facts." Ramlogan also dismissed claims by the Opposition People's National Movement that the OPVs would have had a significant impact on curbing crime in T&T.