Piarco Probe... $3.5M contract given to BHC for $5M

By Charleen Thomas, Newsday

BIRK HILLMAN Consultants (BHC) got a contract for $5 million to do one item of work which State Enterprise UdeCOTT had proposed to do, together with other works for $3.5 million. The contract to BHC was awarded by the Airports Authority (AA) days after its contract with UdeCOTT was finalised and awaiting execution.

Former CEO of UdeCOTT, Haven Allahar, confirmed this yesterday when he gave evidence at the Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco airport project at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Port-of-Spain.

Allahar, led by attorney Justin Phelps, read several letters showing the progress of negotiations between UdeCOTT and the AA to enter into a contract to do a Strategic Investment Plan (SIP), which included a land use development plan.

Allahar said by May 5, 2000 a letter exchanged with the AA, through attorneys Ashmead Ali & Co. which included a draft contract, led UdeCOTT to conclude that they were hired as the consultant to do the SIP and all that was left to be done was the execution of the contract.

UdeCOTT had estimated it would do the work at a cost of $3.5 million. That work included a land use development plan.

But Allahar said after two months, he heard nothing from the authority about the contract.

He said he met AA Chairman Tyrone Gopee at a private function in late July and enquired about the matter. Allahar said he was told by Gopee that the contract had to be approved by the authority's Board and he should contact the Ministry of Works client representative Peter Cateau about the matter.

Allahar wrote Cateau on August 4, 2000, enquiring about the matter, but never got a response.

However he read minutes of the 30th site meeting of the project, held the day before, August 3, 2000, in which Cateau was reported as saying that a proposal was being considered to have BHC do the land use plan. Allahar said he never knew BHC was being considered to do any work.

He also read a letter dated August 29, 2000, from Gopee to BHC, informing them that a contract would be entered into with them to do the land use plan. BHC said that one item of work would cost $5 million.

Allahar said he was also seeing that letter for the first time yesterday. He accepted that it was part of UdeCOTT's scope of work and the authority while negotiating with UdeCOTT, was giving an item of its work to another contractor.

Allahar will return today to be questioned by the Commissioners.

PIARCO PROBE...

CHAIRMAN THREATENS TO WRITE MINISTRY

CHAIRMAN of the Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco airport project, Clinton Bernard, yesterday threatened to write to the Ministry of Information about the continued interruptions of live broadcast on the inquiry.

Yesterday there were at least two interruptions, which forced the sitting to be temporarily suspended.

At 10.10 am, ten minutes into the sitting, Bernard announced that there was an interruption in the broadcast.

He threatened to take the matter to the "Ministry". Bernard quickly added that he wasn't making allegations, but "it's a strange happening so often". He noted that Channel 4, on which the broadcast is carried, did not have interruptions in the evenings. Bernard then stopped the sitting, saying it would not resume until the problem was rectified.

Twenty minutes later, the sitting resumed. Bernard announced that the interruption emanated from a problem with the satellite. He said he hoped there would be no future breakdowns.

However, at 12.50 pm, shortly before the lunch break, Bernard announced another interruption.

He said he was very concerned and stopped short of saying it was "nonsense". He said if it was necessary, he would take it to a "certain level" because it was happening "once to often".

The remainder of the sitting continued uninterrupted.