...Of Corruption and Men.

The UNC was voted out of office on the basis of "allegations" of corruption which was eventually proven by the new government. The new government was elected into office on the premise that they will deal with corruption, they promised also to look at the procurement procedures in relation to the construction sector, which was the main area of corruption under the UNC regime and in particular the Piarco Airport project.

However, after getting into office and given a “mandate” with 26 seats, the PNM government has done nothing significant to end the means to corruption. Instead they did the opposite to what they have promised. The PNM regime has continued with the UNC’s use of state enterprises to carry out contract work in the name of fast tracking. Udecott being at the forefront of this the government’s main tool in its 2020 development drive.

The present regime has defended ever single allegation of corruption linked to Udecott, even those made by one of its own members of parliament and even went as far as to fire that member. And at the eleventh hour they want to tell you and I that they are addressing these concerns, rubbish, they eh fooling me, are they fooling you?

The report of the CoE into the Piarco Airport Project has never been published in the public domain. However, according to the Sunday’s Newsday, this report had made recommendations aimed at preventing a repeat of the Airport fiasco. The present regime has ignored the recommendations of the 2003 Piarco Report; hence we have today, a repeat of the Airport scandal except it is at least ten times worst.

The following are some of the recommendations of the 2003 Piarco Report:

• Statutory bodies and state agencies as well as local corporations should play no part whatsoever in the preparation of the award of any public contract of any kind;

• Parliament should be allowed to debate the raising of state funds for public construction projects;

• No major contracts should be afforded to foreign contractors unless local expertise is not available or readily available locally;

• There should be limits on who should participate in the preparation for or in the award of public contracts.

On the creation of state enterprises, like Udecott, the 2003 Piarco Report had this to say, “they can be used (badly) despite of the best intentions of its management personnel.”

On the use of foreign contractors, like Shanghai Construction, the 2003 Piarco Report had this to say, “project handled solely by expatriates (consultants and contractors) have always been plagued with allegations.”

The 2003 Piarco Report refers to an example during the 1980’s where a foreign contractor (Sam P. Wallace Co. Ink., involved in the famous #100 million Caroni Racing Complex where after millions have been expended, all we are left with were some piles and steel rods on the ground.

Today however, after being given the mandate from the people, the people who believed you when you told them that what happened at Piarco must never happen again, we have a $20 million commission of enquiry telling us the very same thing that one did several years ago.

What is necessary in all of this is for us to understand that whilst the goals, in principle, of a government in office may be well intended, we must not discount the fact that corruption can become a part of the process. This is absolutely necessary for us to understand this and demand that the relevant measures be implemented to eliminate as much as possible the avenues for corruption to take place.

Finally, we must NOT allow ourselves to be so blinded, that we remove one party and elect another and think that our work is done. We must ensure that the right procedures are put in place to protect our wealth.