Cabinet to source new ferry

Suggesting the work of the Port Authority to procure a inter-island new passenger ferry was deliberately stymied, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young yesterday said that procurement would now be done by a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Finance Minister Colm Imbert.

Young, speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, said, with six failed attempts by the Port Authority to acquire a ferry, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had stepped in to take charge and delegate this job to a subcommittee of Imbert, Young, Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe and Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte.

Young said the subcommittee was “working apace” to hopefully report back within a couple of weeks and had contacted ten international shipping brokers plus TT-based diplomats from Canada, Australia and Japan and Italy for help.

“We are disappointed, obviously, that once again the tender process failed to provide a ferry.”

He said the acquisition had been hamstrung by “certain untoward behaviour at the management level and, I daresay, corruption.” He said he had received a forensic report and sent it to the Port Authority.

“We are not hamstrung by those who may want to influence a decision by corrupt means or otherwise,” Young vowed. “What we found coming out of those previous attempts is that there may have been persons influencing the outcomes, persons doing certain things that did not throw up for the citizens of TT. It is no matter of coincidence that six attempts at a tender failed.” He said the world of corruption is linked to monetary gains.

“They (Port Authority) invited 13 international brokers to provide services. None of them responded. We don’t believe that is possible. The sub-Cabinet committee has already been able to get past those hurdles of getting responses.”

Otherwise he hoped to get a new ferry in “the shortest possible time-frame” and aimed for no disruption to the ferry service for Christmas and Carnival. He promised interim measures for the seabridge such as the use of the water taxis at weekends.

Port Authority chairman Alison Lewis yesterday declined to comment to Newsday.