'We will not build a PNM house' – James denies corruption, slams ex-administration

"We are not building a PNM house."

This was the view of THA Secretary of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development Trevor James as he responded to a no-confidence motion against him on Thursday by Minority Leader Kelvon Morris at the 14th plenary sitting of the 2021-2025 session at the Assembly Legislature in Scarborough.

In Morris’ motion, he said the public was concerned about the allegations of bid rigging and corruption within the Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development. He claimed the secretary knew or ought to have known about these allegations of corruption, adding that the secretary’s conduct in relation to the allegations raises questions about his suitability to conduct the affairs of the people of Tobago and hold public office.

The motion called on Chief Secretary Farley Augustine to advise the President to revoke the appointment of James.

Morris raised concerns over a letter from a contractor to a THA official advising of his ability to fulfil the scope of works for a road project for the same fee that the original contractor, who had stepped aside, had agreed on. He also accused James of misleading Augustine by claiming a pool of 40 contractors were considered for a project.

But a defiant James dismissed the allegations and argued that the new administration was on the right path.

He alleged the previous PNM administration was running a "cartel" of contractors and wished the new THA to continue it.

“This motion of no confidence, is a motion intended to rob the people of Tobago of much-deserved development. It is a motion intended to transfer onto this team the actions of the PNM – that is what it is."

James said the motion was meant to distract the population.

"As the audit report comes out – to transfer all of that guilt, all of that corruption that they practised onto this team.”

He added: “Our actions fill them with fear – fear because our development started in the right way.

"We have not continued the PNM agenda of underdevelopment and un-development, and to feed only the one per cent. This motion is really an attack on Tobago masqueraded as a no-confidence motion; it is an attack on our people and our development and the prosperity and the future. As the chief secretary would say, it is an attack on a mango tree that’s bearing nice, juicy fruit.”

He said that after almost 22 years of PNM in Tobago, seven-plus years of the Dr Keith Rowley-led government in Trinidad, the THA has never received more than the minimum 4.03 per cent of the national budget.

“What that says to me and what it should say to all of Tobago, is that we cannot get forward with the PNM. No matter what they send, no matter what lies they tell, Tobago has not benefited from the PNM in office in Tobago, Tobago has not benefited from the Prime Minister who is born in Tobago, in Trinidad, and we would not benefit.”

Addressing the contracts given to Trinidad contractors to build roads prior to the October carnival last year, he said the administration could boast of efficiency.

He said the whole team and all of Tobago was happy, yet shocked that a road could have been constructed in 19 days, a first in the history of Tobago.

“What the reality is – in this particular case, the executive council gave the division of infrastructure a wide minute that allowed us to go sole select, if the circumstances permitted. We were to deliver these projects to the best of our ability within certain limitations and we had the authority to choose the procurement mechanism that we would use. However, we still decided that we would go selective tendering.”

He said his division has "the history and the details" of "the evil" that took place under the PNM before it exited office on December 6, 2021.

He said the last administration gave out over $600 million in contracts in less than 17 months, of which approximately $189 million has already been paid. He said some contractors who are claiming to be sidelined by the current administration had received contracts under the new THA.

“Don’t come to this House to tell me that the house that the PNM built is what I must live in....

"This is the cartel, this is the one-per-cent cartel that the PNM has built and expect that we would continue the cartel.”