UNC wants Integrity Commission to reopen probe of Rowley's townhouse

ATTORNEYS for Barataria/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein on Thursday wrote to the Integrity Commission querying their reasons for terminating a probe into the Prime Minister's ownership of a townhouse at Inez Gate, Tobago, and presenting arguments to urge the commission to reopen its probe.

Freedom Law Chambers is headed by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, and its letter was signed by Vishaal Siewsaran.

Regarding the commission's response to Hosein that Dr Rowley had not declared the townhouse in form B of his declaration to the commission, the lawyer's letter alleged, "This is a serious finding of a breach of the Act by the Prime Minister of the country."

Saying the commission found Rowley had received a gift by way of a discount of the purchase price, the letter said that inexplicably the commission concluded no criminal offence arose regarding the Integrity in Public Life Act (IPLA) and no action could be taken by the commission.

The letter challenged the commission's termination of its probe into the alleged discount which it dubbed an "astonishing conclusion."

The letter proposed a new complaint, under several headings.

Had Rowley undervalued the townhouse, resulting in a lower stamp duty payable, it asked.

Saying a $1.8 million townhouse was bought for $1.2 million, the letter said, "It is unclear why the commission would make the irrational finding that this 'gift' was not in any way connected 'directly or indirectly with the performance of the duties of his Office as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago'”.

"Did the Commission really not see the big red flag that was waving at it?" the letter asked.

"We therefore wish to know the reasoning of the commission in terms of how it arrived at the conclusion that the undeclared gift was not one that was connected 'directly or indirectly with the performance of the duties of his Office as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago'.

"Would Dr Rowley have received this substantial discount from Mr Warner if he was not Prime Minister? "

The letter asked if the commission has investigated whether Rowley had violated the IPLA in section 21 that says a public official must "arrange his private interest whether pecuniary or otherwise in such a manner as to maintain public confidence and trust in his integrity.”

The attorney opined, "By purchasing his townhouse at such a substantial discount and undervalue from a known PNM financier and multi-million-dollar government contractor, Dr Rowley has patently failed to maintain public confidence and trust in his integrity."

The letter also chided the commission. It alleged, "Had the commission been doing its job properly, there would have been no need to wait for the complaint from MP Saddam Hosein to investigate this obvious discrepancy. That the commission took over a year and a half to conduct a blinkered, half-baked investigation that failed to consider these burning issues fuels the public perception of political bias on the part of the commission."

The attorney said the commission's instructions to completing declaration forms suggested Rowley was wrong to exclude the townhouse from his form B declaration, saying it said, "You are required to disclose under this section all properties (including land with the building and land) in which you have a beneficial interest."

In an earlier post-Cabinet briefing Rowley said the commission cannot belatedly issue new guidelines which to interpret the IPLA, saying only Parliament can amend the act's provisions.

Freedom Law Chambers also wrote to Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher on Friday to urge an investigation into the Inez town house purchases, saying a second townhouse was purchased by a relative of Rowley. In the post-Cabinet briefing, Rowley had said his relatives were free to use their own earnings to buy property. At his briefing Rowley denied any wrongdoing, alleged election season smear tactics, and said he owned nothing that he and his wife had not worked hard for over the years.