Thursday, August 27 2009

A row over the role of commissioner Kenneth Sirju in the Uff Commission of Inquiry has broken out and now threatens to derail the fourth and final phase of inquiry hearings.

Back in March, lawyers acting on behalf of Udecott raised questions over the relationship (if any) between the firm KS&P Ltd, of which commissioner Sirju is a director and shareholder, and contractor NH International (Caribbean) Limited, a party to the inquiry.

It was only this month, by letter dated August 12, that Sirju addressed these issues after Udecott wrote another letter on July 24, alleging apparent bias on his part and calling on him to step down. However, lawyers acting for Udecott were not satisfied with Sirju’s letter and penned an urgent letter for the attention of inquiry chairman Professor John Uff. Uff has warned that unless all parties resolve the issue by tomorrow, the fourth phase of hearings carded to begin on September 7 will be cancelled.

The following are Sirju’s letter of August 12 and Udecott’s response dated August 21.