| Learning the Lessons of the UdeCOTT
fiasco - Part 1
Published Thursday April 15th, 2010
The leaking of the Uff
Report, the delayed dismissal of the remaining, ‘squeaky-clean’ UdeCOTT
Board members and the dissolution of Parliament are all part of a major
distraction operation. The fallout from suppressing the Uff Report would
have been huge and unpredictable, so the name of the game was spin. That
spin is what we have been getting from government ever since we entered
the end-game. The ultimate attempt to distract us was of course the
dissolution of the Parliament by FAX on Thursday 8th April.
The strategy seems to
be an attempt to provide the media and the population with even more
interesting talking points, so that the Uff Report slips into obscurity.
I expect that if the incumbent party is returned to office, there will
be attempts to claim that the ‘mandate’ granted by that vote is a
justification for the matters revealed in the Uff Report. Already a
large slice of attention has been shifted to the impending elections, as
expected.
I have no intention of
allowing those distractions to take hold. I will continue to write on
the lessons of the UdeCOTT fiasco.
This entire series of
revelations is historic in that finally we have a Report by a Commission
of Enquiry published. The second note for us is that it raises once
again sobering governance issues, including matters of professional
integrity and Directors’ responsibility. Those are aspects into which
Property Matters will delve in the coming series.
Some main points for us
to consider -
·
Cleaver Heights – The Uff Report makes it clear
that there is no missing money. None. There are other serious concerns
addressed in the Report as to the change in the form of contract and the
fact that some $140M was paid to the contractor without title having
passed to the State. I do agree that those are matters worthy of further
investigation. To be clear, the questions would have to be whether any
undue benefit was enjoyed by the contractor and, if so, how did the
HDC’s checks and balances fail to detect and arrest this? Please note
that the entire contract sum was never estimated to exceed $150M for
this project. That said, we still have two mysterious parts of the
puzzle to figure out – firstly, now that, under cross-examination,
everyone has denied doing so, ‘Who told the Prime Minister that blatant
untruth about ‘missing money’? Secondly, the renowned Forensic
Accountant, Bob Lindquist, has been investigating the Cleaver Heights
project for some considerable time now, so what are his findings? Note
well that I am not asking for his report, since some ‘bright’ person
would be quick to say that he never submitted his report or that it is
incomplete. I am asking for his findings, even the interim ones, before
we spend more money on more investigations.
·
The non-gazetting of the Uff Commission – We were
all shocked to learn, at the end of August 2009, that the Enquiry had
not been properly set-up, due the failure to ‘Gazette’. A special,
one-man Enquiry into that episode was launched by the AG, with a final
report handed into the AG on 9th December 2009 by retired Judge, Anthony
Lucky – see http://guardian.co.tt/news/politics/2009/12/10/lucky-report-goes-cabinet-today-lead-pg3.
What are the findings of the Lucky Report, Mr. AG? I think that we need
to know and now, please.
·
Was there any evidence of criminal wrongdoing by
UdeCOTT? – According to Para 14.41 of the Uff Report – “…there
should be an investigation by an appropriate criminal law Authority into
the award of the MLA contract to CH Development to include 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….”
·
Calder Hart – Was Calder Hart a good executive
manager, who may have just ‘over-reached’ his authority in an effort to
meet his demanding targets? According to Para 12.55 of the Uff Report –
“…We have noted the apparent absence of any note of criticism or dissent
within the UdeCOTT staff and the dominant influence of the Executive
Chairman, Mr. Calder Hart. To the extent the failure of senior staff and
directors to raise any voice in opposition to the level of financial
irregularity found on the Brian Lara Project amounts to loyalty, such
loyalty is clearly misplaced…”
·
That UdeCOTT Board – It was a relief to see the
dismissal of these Directors. In fact, the more one considers their
bizarre and reckless statements, the more obvious it was that this was
indeed a large corporation in crisis. Problem was, that it was our money
they were wasting and worse yet, failing to publish audited account for
three years. A sad example of wrong and strong. The AG said, on 1st
April as he announced that the Uff Report would be published in full,
that Calder Hart was just ‘an ordinary citizen’. It seems to me that
Calder Hart enjoyed benefits far beyond those extended to the ‘ordinary
citizen’. I have never heard of the PM tipping off anyone else under
serious investigation. The other UdeCOTT Board members were not given
the ‘tip’ to resign and have had to be fired. There must be a lesson in
there, somewhere.
·
The Model – This colossal failure is such as to
prompt a serious re-examination of the idea that the Special Purpose
Entity (SPE)is the preferred vehicle for our national development. The
continued down-sizing and sidelining of Ministries and the promotion of
SPEs have continued apace, most recently in the TTRA proposals. I am
saying that it is time to soberly re-examine these ideas against the
actual results, so that we can chart a better way forward.
Next, I will be
examining the implications of the SPE model and its effects on the
nation.
Afra Raymond is
Managing Director of Raymond & Pierre Limited and President of the
Institute of Surveyors of Trinidad & Tobago. Comments can be sent to
afra@raymondandpierre.com. |
| This entire series of revelations is historic in that
finally we have a Report by a Commission of Enquiry published.
The second note for us is that it raises once again sobering
governance issues, including matters of professional integrity
and Directors’ responsibility. Those are aspects into which
Property Matters will delve in the coming series. *
Cleaver Heights
* The non-gazetting of the Uff Commission
* Evidence of criminal wrongdoing by UdeCOTT?
* Calder Hart
* That UdeCOTT Board
* The Model |
|
