Imbert criticises Kamla for 'misinformation' on GHL, EFCL

FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert has denounced claims made by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar about the financial health of Guardian Holdings Ltd (GHL) being questionable after an acquisition of 74,230,750 shares by Jamaica-based NCB Financial Group Ltd (NCBFG) and its wholly-owned subsidiary NCB Global Holdings Ltd (NCBGH) in 2019.

Persad-Bissessar reiterated claims the UNC has made on this matter since 2019, during a public meeting in Chaguanas on Monday.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Imbert said, "In her desperation, the Opposition Leader is engaging in another attempt at misinformation."

He added, "This time, she is dishonestly linking the drop in the share price of NCB, a Jamaican bank regulated by the Bank of Jamaica, and not the Central Bank of TT, to the authorities in Trinidad!"

In a memo to staff on Tuesday, the Guardian Group also denied Persad-Bissessar's claims.

In a separate tweet, also on Tuesday, Imbert dismissed claims made by the UNC with respect to the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL)."

"In 2016, persons employed by the former UNC government were found to be removing, doctoring, and back-dating the records at EFCL."

He said, "This made it impossible to effectively contest claims made by contractors who alleged they were owed money by the company for work done under the UNC."

At a recent news conference, Oropouche West MP Davendranath Tancoo accused the PNM of not paying monies allegedly owed to contractors by EFCL.

On July 27, Justice Carol Gobin rejected a petition by (EFCL) to have the company wound up.

“I have found that the government deliberately starved EFCL of funding – guaranteeing its demise, even as its corporate purpose could not have been said to be spent or frustrated. There could be no more cogent or conclusive evidence of control.

In April, last year, the EFCL asked for permission to be wound up. The judge rejected the assertion of insolvency.

In its petition, the EFCL said it had no income, had ceased to carry on the business of project management, was insolvent, and could not meet current debts from cash or other assets.

It asked for its petition to be granted in the public’s interests since it could not repay its debts – estimated at $889,561,246 – to contractors for work done.

The EFCL’s petition outlined the company’s debt woes which totalled $46,737,205.09 at the time the petition was filed.

The EFCL was established in 2005, under the then Patrick Manning-led Government, as a special purpose company tasked to be the executing arm of the Education Ministry in terms of construction of new schools and the continuous refurbishment/repairs to existing schools.

The EFCL used the services of local private contractors to source workmen and material to build/repair schools.