Sacked trade and industry minister Dr Keith Rowley is demanding that Prime Minister Patrick Manning appear before the John Uff Commission of Enquiry, in order to be cross-examined about the controversial Cleaver Heights housing project in Arima. Rowley's attorney, Gilbert Peterson, SC, made this request in his opening presentation at the start of the Enquiry Into the Local Construction Sector and the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott), yesterday.
The commission was established after widespread allegations of a lack of accountability and transparency by the state-owned special purposes company, which manages many of the Government's billion-dollar construction projects. The Joint Consultative Council on the Construction Sector, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and non-governmental organisations, Opposition politicians and Rowley had called openly for the probe on Udecott. Rowley said last year that he was fired because of his open call for Cabinet oversight for Udecott.
The call for Manning's presence in the enquiry came after commission chairman John Uff said the Cleaver Heights housing project in Arima would be included in the probe. Prime Minister Manning had said in Parliament, during the budget debate last year, that some $10 million was missing and unaccounted for in that project, which was being done by NH International and under the watch of Rowley, who was then housing minister. Rowley has maintained his innocence in the matter and the Housing Development Corporation had subsequently said the problem was caused by a typographical error. But Manning subsequently said it was not $10 million, but $20 million that went missing and was unaccounted for.
The matter is being investigated by the commission. And Peterson, in his opening presentation, said he had received "no formal complaint, no formal allegation as to what was said in the public domain as to Dr Rowley's conduct." He added: "The allegations in respect of Cleaver Heights must be set out in some form–whether in a statement or otherwise–and we must be given the opportunity to answer those allegations and subject ourselves to cross-examination... "And the person making the allegation, I take it, will come and put themselves in the (witness) box and be subject themselves to cross-examination as you may permit, Sir.
"And we, following our statement in response, will then submit ourselves to cross-examination." He stressed that the commission "ought not to close without the allegations that led to the expansion of the terms and reference with respect to Cleaver Heights not be formally put before you and give us a reasonable opportunity to fully answer those allegations. "Otherwise, the clouds will just remain hanging and Cleaver Heights will never be cleared. And that cannot be fair to Dr Rowley or any other citizen." Peterson also said Dr Rowley's written submission to the commission contained a document from former planning and development minister Camille Robinson-Regis, who also said she had problems working with Udecott. Peterson said Rowley expressed his concerns with Udecott since 2003.