Bridgeman’s VP ready for JSC

Vice President of Bridgeman’s Services Group, Andrew Purdey is willing to appear before the parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure to inquire into the Trinidad and Tobago inter-island ferry service with specific focus on the procurement of the ferries.

The JSC will hold two meetings on the ferry fiasco next week. One will be held on Monday in Trinidad and the other on Wednesday in Tobago.

If he was invited to attend, Purdeytold Newsday today, “We will certainly attend. I am looking forward to meeting with Government and finding a positive path forward.”

He said, “there was no crookedness on our (Bridgeman’s) part” in the charter party agreements (contracts) for the cargo vessel Cabo Star and passenger vessel Ocean Flower 2 (contract for which was cancelled). “The contracts were above board,” he said.

Apart from those quick comments, Purdey would not answer more questions. He said he would be issuing a press release before noon. Contacted after noon, he said, he said he sent the release to another newspaper which will be distributing it to the media.

The JSC’s hearing on Monday in Trinidad will start at 1.00 pm under the chairmanship of Independent Senator Stephen Crease in the J Hamilton Maurice Room at the Office of the Parliament, Tower D.

An Office of the Parliament official told Newsday that the Parliament Secretariat has been inviting a number of stakeholders who would have knowledge of the operations of the inter-island ferry service and its procurement practices.

Among those expected to appear before the JSC are a number of Government ministers, and suspended PATT employee Leon Grant.

The Office of the Parliament in a release said that the hearing will focus specifically on the procurement of the ferries.

On Wednesday the JSC will hold two hearings, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, at the Victor E Bruce Financial Complex, Scarborough, Tobago.

The hearing afternoon hearing which will start at 1.00 pm will continue its enquiry into the inter-island ferry service with specific focus on the procurement and maintenance of the ferries.

Among those invited to this hearing are the Division of Tourism, Culture and Transportation of the Tobago House of Assembly, Trinidad and Tobago Inter-Island Transportation Company Limited, Tobago Truckers Association, Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association, and the Tobago Division of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

The 9.00 am hearing is to inquiry into the state of the agricultural and fisheries industries in Tobago with specific focus on the levels of participation in the industries and the output of farmers.

Among those to attend the hearing are officials of the Division of Food Production and Fisheries, Tobago House of Assembly, All Tobago Fisherfolk Association, Tobago Agricultural Society, Tobago Agro Processors Association, and Jacob’s Seafood Company.