Lee tells Imbert: Take an accounting course

POINTE-A-PIERRE MP David Lee denied Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s claim that the former government had tried to hide billions of dollars in losses at the Petrotrin refinery, behind profits from the company’s exports of crude oil.

Lee spoke with Newsday yesterday after Imbert had made allegations against the People’s Partnership (PP) at a People’s National Movement public meeting at Marabella on Tuesday.

“I think the Minister of Finance needs to take a course in basic accounting. Petrotrin’s external auditors have always been KPMG, one of the largest accounting firms in the world.”

Lee said, for the Government to question KPMG’s competence is “a slap in the face” by a government that changes the narrative when it suits them.

“Mr Imbert tried to confuse the population that the PP government was hiding losses.

That is far from the truth.

Mr Imbert needs to come clean on the matter. He is trying to convolute the conversation on the issue which is, they are shutting down Petrotrin (refinery), taking the easy way out.”

Lee said that just as an ill patient can seek a second opinion, so too the government did not have to go along with the Petrotrin board’s suggestion but get more opinions.

“This is a billion dollar empire. For them to go along with the opinion of Mr (Wilfred) Espinet (Petrotrin chairman) of shutting down Petrotrin, is not the right thing for TT.

“This shut-down will affect every single individual.”