UNTIL the controversial Public Procurement and Disposal of Property (Amendment) Bill, 2020 is withdrawn by the Government, the United National Congress (UNC) will not be supporting any legislation brought to the Parliament, said UNC Senator Wade Mark.
“We will not co-operate with them until they bring back the original Public Procurement Act. We will isolate them. We will expose them at every turn. We will not co-operate with the PNM (People’s National Movement) and the four horsemen of the apocalypse,” Mark stated yesterday at a news conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain.
The senator said the amendment to the parent legislation by the Dr Keith Rowley-led administration had effectively legalised “thievery, banditry and naked and wholesome corruption”.
The Bill was passed in the Senate on December 8, after it got the support of Independent Senator Dr Maria Dillon-Remy. In total, it gathered the support of 16 members with the six Opposition senators voting against and eight of the nine Independent senators abstaining.
Mark said the amendment placed the nail in the coffin of procurement as it related to transparency, accountability, integrity and value for money.
He pointed out that while in opposition, the PNM “falsely championed” the need to address corruption and bid-rigging in the procurement of goods, works and services.
“But those words were cheap talk, old talk, because with the three amendments to the parent Act, the last Act of 2020, dismantled and destroyed both the letter and spirit of Act No 1 of 2015 and literally established two parallel procurement regimes in Trinidad and Tobago, one under the Procurement Regulation Board and the other under the Minister of Finance.”
This, he said, represented not only a breach of trust, but a complete betrayal of the PNM’s commitments and promises to the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
What was particularly disturbing, he stated, was the elimination of any oversight by any independent body as it concerns the sale and disposal of public assets and public property.
“Can you imagine the disposal of our assets at the Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Company Ltd? Take, for example, Paria Fuel Trading Company, take, for example, the Guaracara refinery which is now on the chopping block as we know through a bid by Patriotic Energies and Technologies Company Ltd,” said Mark.
“What the Government did in these amendments was remove completely from public view, from oversight by an independent body, of any transactions involving the sale and disposal of our assets.”
Fast ferries
He went on to make mention of when both Rowley and Minister of National Security Stuart Young visited Australia “and decided by themselves” to purchase two fast ferries to the tune of $1 billion to service the seabridge between Trinidad and Tobago.
“The Prime Minister and the Minister of National Security visited Australia and they, as if they represent some independent body that can analyse value for money, accountability and transparency in a dispassionate way, decided through a committee set up by themselves, headed by themselves, took a decision by themselves without any independent oversight, they decided to purchase two fast ferries at over $1 billion and there is no transparency, there is no accountability, there is no oversight into this transaction.
“But these two gentlemen, they are in love with boats. So they were not satisfied with spending $1 billion for two fast ferries for Tobago and the seabridge. They went further and they bought two Cape Class patrol vessels from Austal, an Australian-based global ship-building company.”
Mark stated that based on research done by the UNC, the party realised that in 2011, the Australian Navy had purchased two identical vessels. When the cost was converted to Trinidad and Tobago dollars, the vessels cost $300 million.
“We are being told in Trinidad and Tobago those same two vessels that cost the Australian Navy $300 million is now costing us $600 million.
“We call on the Minister of National Security and we call on Dr Keith Rowley who heads the Cabinet to account for that extra $300 million. What is that $300 million for? Where has this $300 million more gone to?
“A criminal forensic investigation ought to be launched immediately into the purchase of not just the two fast ferries, but more importantly, the two fast patrol Cape Class vessels,” he added.
“We want to say the following to Dr Rowley and his gang…I call them the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I don’t have to call their names, you know their names. They are the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
“We want them to immediately withdraw these disturbing amendments to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act and return it to its original pristine glory. We want it returned to its status quo,” said Mark. See Page 5
