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Baksh ordered financing that cost millions more

Piarco Probe — Day 33

By Charleen Thomas, Newsday

FORMER Minister of Works and Transport in the UNC Government, Sadiq Baksh directed that NIPDEC’s recommendations for self- financing for the contract to supply speciality equipment be disregarded and another more expensive method be used.

The contract was eventually awarded to Miami based company, Calmaquip and the decision cost taxpayers of this country millions of dollars more than the contract should have cost. This was the evidence yesterday of the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) client representative, Peter Cateau, who stated that he was deliberately left out of several decisions.

Cateau was giving evidence at the Commission of Inquiry into the project at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Port-of-Spain.

Cateau was led in his evidence by lead attorney for the Commission, Theodore Guerra, SC.

Cateau said there were many things about the project he was unaware of, because he was deliberately left out, although he was “watchdog” for the MOWT on the project. He agreed with attorney for the Commission Theodore Guerra that to an extent, he was “stuntified”, but he couldn’t say who was responsible for leaving him out. But he said an example of him being left out, was with the CP13 contract which was awarded to Miami-based Calmaquip.

Cateau said after it was decided that the awarding of the contract for CP13 would be taken from NIPDEC and given to the Airports Authority (AA) to handle and he made his recommendation on how the contract should be financed, he was left out of all deliberations. Cateau said with the advent of the Ministerial Committee into the project, which was chaired by Housing Minister John Humphrey and included Finance Minister Brian Kuei Tung, Planning and Development Minister, Trevor Sudama and Baksh, they made decisions, and he and NIPDEC were “nullified to an extent”. He said it was frustrating for him to exercise his role as the “watchdog”.

Cateau said on one occasion, on April 19, 1999, on the first site visit by the ministerial committee, Humphrey who was acting as Prime Minister, requested that certain works under CP9 should be removed and put under CP3 to speed up the process.

Cateau said Humphrey had no authority to make such a request, but no one told him that. Asked by Guerra and the Commission Chairman Clinton Bernard, why Humphrey wasn’t told he could not do that, Cateau said it was difficult to tell the Acting PM in “front his face and in the presence of several ministers he had no such authority”. Asked if he was afraid, Cateau first said “afraid” was the wrong word, but then agreed that he was in fact afraid to tell Humphrey he was wrong to make such a request. Cateau agreed with Guerra that Humphrey directed that site visit meeting and to a certain extent he had his way, in that everyone agreed with him. Asked by Bernard if he (Cateau) was acting under duress, Cateau agreed saying “thank you”.

Regarding the contract for CP 13, Cateau said Humphrey at the fourth site visit on June 4, 1999 said the option the Ministry of Finance preferred to use in that contract was a supply, install, lease and transfer (SILT) method. Cateau said that meant the AA and government would not have had to put money up front for the contract. He said CP13 had to be put out for tender. He said the SILT method was a departure from the original plan for the award of CP13.

Cateau said NIPDEC Ag General Manager, Margaret Thompson had asked for clarification of the finance method of CP13 at the fifth meeting on June 15, 1999 and Humphrey told her all the options would be sent to the Ministry of Finance for review. He said Humphrey did not explain the SILT method, but he understood it to mean that the successful contractor would finance the contract. Cateau also read from a NIPDEC procurement plan which he received. That plan outlined options for financing CP13 as well as stated that NIPDEC was willing to procure and maintain the specialty equipment at cost price to government, because sourcing the specialty equipment would be free of finance charges and taxes. Cateau said he had to decide on an appropriate option. Cateau said he sought advice from the Ministry of Finance, because he did not have the technical expertise to make an evaluation. He said he later recommended the SILT method to the AA.

Asked why he went along with the SILT method over NIPDEC’s offer, Cateau said it was based on the advice he got. Asked why he didn’t tell the AA and the MOWT that the country would benefit from NIPDEC’s proposal, Cateau admitted that the MOWT was fully aware of the offer and the advice he got. Asked by Bernard if he was suggesting that Baksh directed him to forget NIPDEC and go with the Finance Ministry’s advice, Cateau agreed. He agreed with Guerra that based on directives from Baksh, he made a mistake and cost the country millions. Guerra continued to grill Cateau on his inability to be responsible for taxpayers money, but he was stopped by Bernard who told him (Guerra) not to use a ‘big iron to kill a fly, when he has said he acted on the directive of his line minister, Baksh’.

Cateau also said ‘no doubt’ it was a decision of Baksh, Humphrey, Kuei Tung and Birk Hillman Consultants (BHC) to give Calmaquip the contract for CP13.

Trinidad and Tobago News

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