Friday March 12th, 2010
- Last update:2 min 51 sec ago
Udecott comes in for blows
T&T Chamber backs Uff inquiry
Published: 9 Oct 2009
One of the country’s largest business organisation, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce is accusing the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott) of trying to frustrate the completion of the Uff Commission of Enquiry into the Construction Sector. In a release yesterday, the chamber said: “The chamber considers this current state of affairs to be an affront to the nation and totally unacceptable.” The chamber has called on the Government to take “swift and effective action” to “resolve this unfortunate impasse.” The chamber said over the past few weeks it had “observed with amazement and consternation, the unfolding saga of the Uff Commission of Enquiry,” which included the Government’s attempt to validate the work of the commission and the public statements of Attorney General John Jeremie on the matter. The chamber noted that considerable taxpayer resources have been used in the financing the probe, which began in January and is yet to be completed.
It said it was “imperative” that the work of the commission be allowed to be completed and a timely report be presented to President George Maxwell Richards. The chamber also said the public’s right to this information must be unfettered. “Any further course of action indicated by the commission’s report must be allowed to take effect expeditiously,” the chamber said.
It said in the interest of transparency and good governance, principles which the Government espouses, the Patrick Manning-led administration must act now to resolve this situation. And President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (Doma) Gregory Aboud said last night his organisation had been “startled” by how rapid developments in the Udecott matter have been brought to the nation’s attention. Aboud said citizens from a wide cross-section of the society had expressed concern “about the near collapse of the inquiry into Udecott.”
“We feel very strongly that the current episode involving Udecott is straining the fragile trust that still exists in our country and is calling into question the credibility of those whose credibility had never before been doubted,” Aboud said. “The ultimate goal of the moment is the restoration of trust among all citizens with respect to the expenditure on Udecott and the inquiry itself.” He said the business community and a wide cross-section of the wider national community spoke with one voice on this issue. The commission was appointed last year by President Richards on the advice of Prime Minister Patrick Manning. The first round of hearings began at the Winsure Building, Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain in January. There have been two further round of public hearings. A fourth was due to begin on September 7, when commission chairman John Uff said the commission was being suspended indefinitely because a legal requirement to publish the holding of the Commission in the Gazette was not honoured. Udecott has also initiated legal action in the High Court against the continuation of the inquiry.
ALL right thinking
ALL right thinking Trinbagonians should protest , peacefully , against the govt until the entire UDeCOTT board of directors has been dismissed . Calder Hart et al must NOT be allowed to continue spending the tax-payers of T&T money . The Prime Minister , Patrick Manning is trying to avoid the issue but it will not go away . It appears that he is focused on the Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting but the people want him to fire Calder Hart and the other directors at the UDeCOTT .
The time has come for the opposition parties of T&T to unite and lead peaceful protests against the Manning administration . Basdeo Panday , the bane of the UNC , and by extention the oppositions parties , must be removed from being the political leader of the party and Leader of the Opposition .
In conclusion , I would like to opine that the political grave which was dug for Dr. Keith Rowley , by Prime Minister Manning and his minions , pertaining to the Cleaver Heights Project ; maybe big enough to accommodate PM Manning and Calder Hart .
"Where there is no VISION , the people PERISH" .
ATW - Barbados .
And no truer words were writ.
And no truer words were writ.
Commission of Inquiry into
Commission of Inquiry into UDeCOTT:
T&T Chamber of Commerce & Mr. Gregory Aboud of DOMA have now stepped forward and joined forces with the rest of the nation to force the hands of this Manning Adminstration to do its job and get this Inquiry back on track.
While I do realise that both these organisation are business oriented, I recognise that the fiasco with UDeCOTT is tearing apart our country and the fall-outs created will ultimately affect them too, and they will suffer great losses. They cannot take a back seat and watch what's going on and not carry out their duty in this country, as they too are part of this nation.
We, The Guardian bloggers have been expressing our strong condemnation of the events taking place and the shameful behaviour of Mr. Caulder Hart and his team; and putting forward suggestions, and even making personal pleas to the Deputy Chairman, Dr. Bahadoorsingh to do what we believe he knows he must do, and that is to get the Inquiry back on track or distance himself from the Board of Directors.
We also took on the government for what we believe were games they were playing and their inaction from the very beginning; and Mr. Mannings glorification, and singing of the praises of Mr. Caulder Hart, to the detriment of this nation. The sheer hyprocracy of our P.M. and some of his senior Ministers have caused us great turmoil.
Yes, "considerable taxpayer resources have been used in the financing of the probe," and we cannot simply watch it go down the drain.
The Chamber calls for the Inquiry to resume and be completed in a timely report to be presented to the President, and stressed the "public's right to this information must be unfettered", and we The Guardian bloggers, fully agree with this call. They called on the Manning Administration who "espouses" the principles of transparency and good governance to act now in resolving the situation.
Since it appears that no one in gov't is really listening, or they have gotten themselves so deep in the middle of this 'coruption' that they have put on their own 'straight jackets', ready to be taken away; we hope the involvement of the Chamber of Commerce and DOMA will bring this gov't to its senses.
We do hope with this call from these two bodies, that the Prime Minister will come out in the open and do his civic duty, and that is to read the riot act to Mr. Hart and get the Inquiry back in full operation. We await our P.M. acting responsibly.
Gardenia
Welcome on board CI&C &
Welcome on board CI&C & DOMA, although belatedly, in joining the chorus of 99% of the population. But I'm a bit taken aback by the following reported pronouncement from CIC, unless the Guardian has misrepresented their views:
"It said in the interest of transparency and good governance, principles which the Government espouses, the Patrick Manning-led administration must act now to resolve this situation."
Is this a joke? Or is it use of some kind of psychology?
The Prince, I too was taken
The Prince, I too was taken aback with this statement.
But on contemplation I came to the conclusion that some people use this language in this manner.
In other words , 'You Patrick Manning like to proclaim that you operate by the guiding principles of transparency and good governance, so now prove that you do .. act now and resolve this situation - put your money where your mouth is.
Think it is more of a dare, a challenge.
Read between the lines .. they have been reading our blogs.
Good Morning ... and have a pleasant day to all.
And Congratulations are in order - President Barack Hosein Obama for being awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Not bad!
Gardenia
Good day to you Fair
Good day to you Fair Flower.
Thanks for bringing your observation to my attention. But I did read the lines and between the lines; hence my two-pronged obsevation. But I appreciate your perception of a "dare" element and I did note your references in quotes in your earlier analysis.
I see you insist that those people out there read our blogs. On a previous occasion you asked us to trust you. Am I to conclude that some of those people have been providing you with such feedback? Just curious, but you don't have to answer, or provide any proof. We know that you are a person of integrity and we trust you. That is why yesterday I suggested your nomination for chairpersonship of the forgotten Integrity Commission.
I share your congratulations to President Obama. Coming after Dubya Bush, that was a piece of cake. I want to see his peace program for the Middle East, then I will shower praises. I've been contemplating sending him my own road map, but I fear that if he took my advice he could land up like his two idols Abe Lincoln and JFK Kennedy. Mossad has long arms. Or at best he joins the ranks of the short list of one-term presidents. As it is, his honeymoon is long over and everyone is looking to "thwart" his every move so he has to walk a tight rope all the way.
Take care now.
The Prince.
Have Faith My Wise Son! -
Have Faith My Wise Son! -
Lets clear the air up-front - before any of the bloggers put on their conspiracy theorist hat. I am neither a 'plant', an 'implant' nor a 'mole'. I have no such inside connections. It's simply 'educated and wise' instinct that's kicking in.
I have heard many who says that they do not pay any heed to 'little insignificant' people, but boy do they have their eyes and ears ready and waiting to check things out - we may not be aware - because they are very good at it. Now we just have to wait and see.
I saw the nomination papers yesterday, but I elected to let it rest quietly for the time being. But I appreciated your confidence in little old me. And I see you got La Diva on board, too. There goes a wise young woman; she's got a brilliant future ahead! I don't know Jean Miles but from what I heard I can picture La Diva somewhere in there. Now must concentrate on one project at a time, no multi-tasking here.
Most will be watching Obama's journey carefully. Those 'black clouds' hanging around give us this uncanny feeling; as some of us have experienced it before. Hope nothing ever comes of it. Even though we will be watching his every step, the journey he takes will be what's important. Mammy gets quite nervous about what could be. In 3 weeks she will be back, and I must get her his second book. I got the first for her to read while she is away. When I go to the book store she checks out the books, and showed an interst in this one. She reads a lot. My bookcase has no room. I admire her zeal for knowledge. If only she had opportunities in her younger days like the young of today! But she did well for herself over the years, always seeking out new ventures. At 84.5 she puts a lot of young ones to shame.
We must have faith in humaity ... this issue, even though troubling, will get sorted out eventually. Its Friday and we can start by letting the weight roll off the shoulders along with Mr. Hart. You know we got some very wise people using this platform. We are lucky to be in good company. Thank you to The Guardian.
Enjoy your day my friend.
Gardenia
Hope Mammy gets back safe
Hope Mammy gets back safe and sound. You are very fortunate to have one, especially one so enterprising. I see where you inherited your talents from.
Thanks for setting the record straight. I would never associate you as some kind of double agent, mole, plant (apart from the horticultural one) or implant, maybe a power plant, yes.
I'm glad to see La Diva is on board the Bus of Change, but I certainly would not like to see her land up like Jean Miles. I didn't know her personally, apart from newspaper reports and stories. I'm sure others out there knew her well. In short she stood up against corruption and virtually sacrificied her life in the process.
I'll try to be brief with my vague recollections, in case you are interested: Her father it is reported blew the Caura dam construction corruption and bobol apart. Jean, an ex-convent girl who at one stage worked in Inland Revenue, then elsewhere. Somehow she had information about an individual named Tam who was at the centre of a gas station racket involving gas station licences, another big corruption issue of the time. I vaguely remember her giving damning evidence at an enquiry into the scandal. After that she was treated like a social pariah, or some kind of leper. Rumour had it Johnny O' was recruited by higher-ups to charm her and it is alleged he did more than that. Later on her life went more and more downhill, ending in alcoholism. Towards her end she was ravaged by another animal and was never able to get her life back on track, finally meeting an early demise. I cannot vouch for the facts of this story, so you may have to double check with others, or maybe ask Francis Joseph to do some research on this one. He seems to dig up some of these old stories from time to time.
This is a different age, so don't be cowed from your continuing battle against corruption.
Seeya and keep on trucking.
The Prince
While the Cabinet blindly
While the Cabinet blindly supports their leader, I wonder if the voices of the people of Trinidad & Tobago does not mean anything to him.
Mr Prime Minister, please do the right thing and put a stop to this nonesense.
http://dsaltsman.blogspot.com/
Saltsman remember the voice
Saltsman remember the voice of the people is the voice of God.... ONLY AT ELECTION TIME
Great news
Great news
but it is only a boulder in the ocean. We need more of these 'big hitters' to come out on record to remind Team Manning that they are our employees!
Whilst I am very much in favour of the removal of Mr Hart et al, I want this removal to include the returns of ALL ill-gotten gains they are 'allegedly' to have obtained, including interest received on such deposits!!! It is one thing to 'fire' them. It is another thing for them to go off to Florida, Canada or take up residence on The World (a luxury cruise ship with the apartments owned by individuals) or where ever and enjoy those 'alleged' ill-gotten gains.
It would appear AG John Jeremie has been lauded for returning x number of hundreds of millions of TT dollars to the Trinbago purse which was said to have been misappropriated under previous administrations. Time to look inward, which should not be too hard, given the glaring examples.
I have also been wondering overnight... this attempted rush through of the financial bills to avoid blacklisting by the FATF...
...is there a possible safety net in there to protect "Mr Big et al" from the money-laundering/proceeds of crime systems/requirements that independent senators, opposition and even eagle-eyed members of Trinbago PLC could miss in this unexplained 'urgent rush'?
AG John Jeremie has spoken about the backlog of cases and the 'unsatisfactory' length of time for an accused to appear in court. I could be wrong, but does something like this not involve the Office of the AG plus a number of Ministries (not just Finance)?
La Diva
La Diva mia, did Mariano
La Diva mia, did Mariano Browne give you those figures for the sums repatriated by Jeremie? Just wondering.
I remember when another AG pursued the likes of O'Hallaran, Prevatt, Ou Wai et al, the expenses of the enquiries and legal fees might have outstripped the sums recovered. And the chappies were allowed to "retire" in far off places like Canada, Costa Rica and Panama. But at least some semblance of justice, even if token, or poetic at most, was seen to have been done.
And there have already been hints from the AG about debt forgiveness in cases where the cost of recovery is likely to exceed the debt. With the kind of creative accountants we have in Cabinet, I can see a lot of debt forgiveness coming up.
Try not to lose too much sleep over this bunch.
The Prince
el Prince
el Prince
did Mariano Browne give you those figures for the sums repatriated by Jeremie? Just wondering.
Minister Browne not talking to me. He still has not responded into how his 'speech writers' could have gotten it so wrong over who Agusta Westland is and the difference between his figure for the helicopters and what Agusta Westland said in their press release. (Fancy treating a Diva like this; a Persian cat at that! (^_~))
No, I think it may have been the Guardian (or could have been the Express?) that quoted something AG Jeremie said himself? If it were Minister Browne saying it, I would have added a 'reader beware' caveat. (^_~)
La Diva, living la dolce vita
Thank you my Sweet Life for
Thank you my Sweet Life for the clarification.
You should have given Browne a few scratches with your feline paws, and added some good bites for good measure. That would teach him. Ask me the whole lot of them needs teaching some lessons. I could just picture the Persian moving its bushy tail side to side, snarling, baring dental weapons ready to pounce on this impudent puppy, son of a dog. Wow.
The Prince of Brightness.
Patos eh got time with you
Patos eh got time with you simpletons in TT ...take dat in yuh pweffen...all yuh beg for dat !!!!
NOW WE GO SEE ACTION
NOW WE GO SEE ACTION -
The true government has spoken. The golden rule applies, he who has the gold rules. As a strategy the disparate groups of nincompoops who cannot get together should hitch a ride. Get behind the Chamber and pretend that it was your idea all along even though you failed in execution. Opposition, Labour Unions, Religious Leaders you have failed to unite the people. Ole talk is a start, but performance beats ole talk all the time. Practice what you preach.
If I recall accurately,
If I recall accurately, after returning to government in 2002, the honorable Patrick Manning made a humble admission that he had not been listening to the people prior to 1995 and that was what cost him the elections then. Isn't it amazing how people forget so easily within 7 years? Smelter plant, UdecoTT, crime, roads, water, property tax, CoE into 1990 attempted coup and the list goes on and on and on. Guess what? He is still not listening.