Robinson-Regis questions THA contract awarded to Trinidad contractor

PNM lady vice-chairman Camille Robinson-Regis on Friday called on Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Farley Augustine, to say how a roofing company was selected to do roadworks on the island.

In a media release, Robinson-Regis, who is also Minister of Housing and MP for Arouca / Maloney, not only took aim at the contract awarded to Innovative Roofing and Construction Solutions for over $50 million, but also a comment made by its managing director John Chadee.

In a telephone interview with the Newsday on Wednesday, Chadee, when asked if his company had roadworks experience, said: “Sir, you heard what I just told you? English language hard for you Negro reporters to understand?”

Earlier, he said all queries should be directed to the THA, and he was satisfied that his arrangement with the assembly was above board.

Chadee’s company was invited to bid, and awarded a $54,781,820 contract for the construction of the Milford Court/Pigeon Point Connector Road. The contract raised eyebrows for having rates higher than what the THA is known for paying, and was given to a roofing company, not registered with the THA, with an unknown track record in roadworks.

In her release, Robinson-Regis said, “It was THA Farley’s hallmark statement that during his tenure, that elements of transparency and accountability will be the foundation of his reign. If, what the article has reported is accurate, then Chadee, who is the managing director of Innovative Roofing and Construction Solutions Ltd, should not only publicly apologise to the reporter, but also indicate how in fact his company, which was registered in 2020, obtained a multi-million-dollar contract.”

Sources told Newsday on Friday, THA secretaries met to discuss the contract after the article was published, but no decision was taken on whether the contract will be terminated or not.

Robinson-Regis called for the contract to be terminated. Chadee’s company is one of two companies awarded contracts for roadworks in Tobago but based in Trinidad.

Construction Services and Supplies Ltd was awarded a contract for $25,872,595.88 for roadworks from Argyle to Roxborough/ Bloody Bay Road.

Robinson-Regis also called on Augustine and the THA to distance itself from the utterance made by Chadee.

“Instead of answering or deferring to comment, Mr Chadee instead lashed out by allegedly labelling the reporter a ‘Negro,’ which is a word historically used to symbolise persons considered to be of Black African heritage.

“Why did Mr Chadee feel the need and, worse yet, was so comfortable to utter the description aloud?”

She said when the matter of Trinidad contractors receiving contracts in Tobago over Tobagonian contractors was raised by the Prime Minister, Augustine accused Dr Rowley of “spewing covert racist rhetoric.”

She posed several questions to Augustine: “Apart from Innovative Roofing and Construction Solutions Ltd, what other companies were invited to tender for the Milford Court/Pigeon Point Connector Road project? How was Innovative Roofing and Construction Solutions Ltd selected? What were the criteria needed for selection? Was experience a criterion? Did Innovative Roofing and Construction Solutions Ltd support the PDP financially during the THA election? If yes, how much did the company spend? Were any Tobago contractors invited to bid on the Tender?”

When Newsday asked Secretary of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development Trevor James about Chadee’s contract, he said it was all above board and was that he was told the company has "infrastructure exposure," but could not say if it had any history of doing roadworks.