Saturday, October 3 2009

OPPOSITION Senator Wade Mark pulled no punches in calling for the head of Udecott executive chairman, Calder Hart, as the Senate on Thursday debated a Bill to validate the Commission of Inquiry into Udecott.

Mark alleged thievery and money-laundering in the spending of up to $60 billion of public monies by Udecott which he described as a runaway horse.

He called for the arrest of Hart, alleging that enough evidence has come to light so far in the Commission to be sent by Attorney General John Jeremie to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Commissioner of Police (CoP) without having to await the completion of the Commission’s report.

Mark said, “I hope the day will come when the Attorney General of this country based on the hard facts before him will give the instruction to the DPP to arrest that man called Calder Hart...I am looking forward to the day you jail Calder Hart...”.

Mark alleged that Hart owned property in the Turks and Caicos Islands where he was allegedly a neighbour to the head of one of the companies awarded a contract by Udecott, but Udecott immediately denied this claim, saying Hart owns no property there and has never even visited the Turks and Caicos.

Mark suggested the final report might never see the light of day, as he called for the AG to give an undertaking to lay the report in Parliament and to act in the interim on the Commission’s findings to date.

We recall this Government’s refusal to ever publish the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco Airport expansion project.

Jeremie kept his cards close to his chest as he ambiguously replied that the Government would “act responsibly” with respect to evidence already in the public domain. We would suggest he be more explicit.

In fact, Mark alleged that the whole Commission had been “set up” from the very start in order to ensure its failure by what he called, “administrative sabotage.”

He alleged that key players including the Commission’s legal team were in cahoots with the Government to undermine the Commission, such as by the unprecedented failure to gazette the inquiry. “To the ordinary people in this country it appears to be a huge and gigantic conspiracy. It is like a put-up job. The population is concerned that this thing was a cook-up.”

Mark claimed it was a premeditated, calculated, and deliberate attempt to sabotage the inquiry. Of course, it is difficult to ever actually get evidence to prove any such conspiracy, but we say that Mr Mark is quite entitled to make his charges.

Jeremie was put in the unenviable position of having to wear both the hats of his office — public interest and political interest — as he respectively acted as constitutional ringmaster to assure the whole inquiry was above board, while then also defending the integrity of several key players involved, including the engineering firm owned by Minister of Works and Transport, Colm Imbert.

Some might ask, did he go too far in this latter regard?

So the question is, at the end of the day will Jeremie really have enough clout and sufficient political will to ensure this whole inquiry is seen through, with its recommendations being pursued?

While Mark alleged that Udecott and the Government are “one clenched fist” — saying any Board which was in fact acting against the will of the Government would have been fired by the Government — we hope the AG can prove otherwise, or at least prove to be an independent voice.

Further, we ask, will the post-holders of the office of DPP and CoP — which are both now filled by acting persons — have sufficient independence of the political directorate, to look at the evidence impartially and do the right thing, whatever they decide that to be?

Meanwhile yesterday’s High Court ruling has frozen hearings of the Uff Commission, until Udecott’s judicial review application is heard in February.

We wait with bated breath.