BY ANNABELLE BRASNELL, Guardian TT

The Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco Airport project heard yesterday that former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday knew about the indiscipline and greed displayed by some people on the project.

In her second day of testimony, former Minister of Transport Jearlean John revisited her impressions of the project when she became Minister in 2000.

John was given authority over the project with her swearing in as Minister of Transport but she said she never felt like the leader.

She said after being introduced at the first meeting, she was basically ignored as discussions continued and decisions were made ad hoc. She later expanded on the meeting saying: "The greed was palpable. You could feel it. It was nasty."

The meeting was a gathering of an inter-ministerial committee charged with overseeing the project, contractors, and Airport Authority staff.

Asked by Commission chairman Clinton Bernard, if she was not the de jure (leader by law) and de facto leader (leader in fact) John said not de facto.

"Yes, de jure but not de facto. There were a lot more people more powerful than me on that project. Even the client representative (Peter Cateau) was more powerful," she said.

Eventually, having perused several documents on the project, she said she decided to speak to the Prime Minister because "someone had to stop the insanity. It was getting worse every day."

At a meeting with Panday in his Whitehall office, John said she told him: "Sir, you have a very indisciplined project at Piarco...too many people are talking, too many people are making decisions. We need to put this to rest quietly."

She told the Commission Panday's response to the indiscipline was "I am aware." She said he further told her "It (the project) is a milch cow and there is a feeding frenzy. I will remove the inter-ministerial committee."

Emile Elias, member of the Joint Consultative Council, previously gave hearsay evidence on Panday's statement but this is the first time John has given a personal-hand account.

Elias' testimony was based on his hearing a radio show where John appeared to talk about the project.

Asked by Bernard what she felt Panday meant by "milch cow" and "feeding frenzy" John said she didn't try to interpret the statement but "I knew that he understood what I felt and was willing to help."

The committee, headed by then Planning Minister John Humphrey, was summarily dissolved at a later Cabinet meeting.

Only then, said John, was she able to "assume full and complete control" of the project.