Morris wants E-IDCOT 'transparency' over Manta Lodge

THA Minority Leader Kelvon Morris has complained about a lack of transparency and accountability at the Eco-Industrial Development Company of Tobago (E-IDCOT).

At a media briefing at his Scarborough office on August 28, Morris said a citizen was blanked by E-IDCOT after seeking information on the requests for proposals for operators of the $27 million Manta Lodge and Dive Centre in Speyside.

According to the THA website, E-IDCOT was established by the THA in 2009 as a wholly-owned private limited liability company. It is described as "one of the executing agencies responsible for driving economic development and transformation in Tobago as stated in the THA’s Comprehensive Economic Development Plan."

E-IDCOTT's request for proposals for Manta Lodge operators had announced an October 6, 2023 deadline for submission of documents and applications for pre-qualification in the procurement process.

Morris said the current Farley Augustine-led administration had campaigned on pillars of transparency and accountability.

He said, “We, the people, trusted and bought into that commitment and therefore, with a resounding support, they came into governance 14-1 (in the December 2021 THA elections). Today, unfortunately, that breach of trust has been broken and that solemn pledge to be transparent and accountable has quickly vanished away.”

He made the person, whom he did not name, file a Freedom of Information request surrounding the opening of the hotel.

“Which is fair information that I think citizens who are the shareholders of this property – because it belongs to the THA, and the citizens are the ones who THA represents – they ought to know what are the terms of this engagement. So this was filed.

"To my complete dismay and utter shock, this private citizen got a most shocking and amazing and I would say even boldface, out-of-place response from the management of the eco-industrial company.”

The July 1, 2024 letter, purported to be from the company, but which blanked out the name of the person filing the request, as well as the person who signed the letter, read: “Please be advised that E-IDCOT, not being a public authority pursuant to Section 3 of the Freedom of Information Act Chap 22:02, is not required to provide access to the requested documentation. Please be guided accordingly.”

Morris said this response was a slap in the face of Tobagonians.

"What, in essence, this CEO who was empowered by a two-member board – one of those members being the senior technical adviser to the Secretary of Finance – is saying to you, the people of Tobago, is that this eco-industrial company that manages a multi-billion asset in Cove, your million-dollar asset up at Manta Lodge, spends your public money, which is worth over $200 million in contracts and is wholly owned by the THA by way of an executive council minute that created the company and the THA executive council that appoints its board – is not a public authority and therefore is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.”

He said he finds the response “objectionable, reprehensible and a slap in the face of every Tobagonian who trusted the administration to be transparent and accountable.”

Newsday made several attempts to contact E-IDCOT acting CEO Abena Richards, but when transferred to her extension, the calls went unanswered.

However, deputy chairman of the board Anslem Richards told Newsday the company had nothing to hide. Richards said the tender fell short of the parameters.

The hotel, he said, continues to be managed by the THA and branded by Choice Hotels.