Corruption a huge cost

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has said there is too much corruption in the country and vowed to protect the public interest and the public purse from people who are bent on profiteering from corruptly obtained state funds.

Rowley called on citizens to reject corruption as a way of life in the business of TT, as he opened two segments of the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension to Point Fortin, and turned the sod for a third package on Mosquito Creek, La Romaine, last Friday.

“There is just too much corrupt practice in TT and government money is just too easily had by persons, whether they are public servants, politicians, and even pastors, who engage in accepting public favours and public monies in ways that would embarrass them if the public knows what is going on,” Rowley said.

“It is not that I am a preacher. It is not for me to tell you where morality lies. I am simply asking you to not encourage corrupt practice in TT. There is a cost, a huge cost and that cost is to keep a large part of the population in perpetual poverty.”

He made the statements in the context of questionable practices outlined by Communications Minister Stuart Young on the contract awarded by the former PP administration to the Brazilian firm, Constructura OAS. Young questioned the PP’s decision to remove a clause on the eve of the 2015 general election which could have eased the Rowley administration out of the contract when OAS went bankrupt.

Rowley called on former works minister Dr Suruj Rambachan to explain the PP’s failure to terminate the contract, saying it had opened up the country to legal action. He said Government had the testicular fortitude to stand up to the challenges, saying, “...we had the boots to kick them where it hurts.”

The OAS contract was terminated in July 2016 and the highway project restarted in 2017 through the award of smaller packages on a phased basis to local contractors. Government later sought legal address in London and other courts to regain some of the money paid by the former administration, including the recovery of an estimated $921 million from OAS by the National Infrastructure Development Company. Rowley said the project originally funded out of the current account was questionable from the beginning, as local voices pleaded with the PP government not to award it as a single package but as smaller packages so local contractors would have an opportunity to bid.

“The then government insisted on awarding the contract for over $5,000 million to one foreign contractor to be funded out of the current account of the GOTT,” he said, comparing it to a home owner paying for a house from his salary. “The reason why they did that was to create an opportunity for corrupt practice. I am saying that without fear of contradiction because that is what the facts have told us.”

As the PM and his ministers weighed in on allegations of corruption against the PP administration, the lone Opposition MP in the audience, Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe sat with his head bowed. He was not acknowledged by any of the speakers, nor was his name among the specially invited guests on the protocol list. Bodoe later said he “had to take the blows” but could not defend the allegations as he was not in the government at the time. He referred questions to Rambachan.