By Andre Bagoo Friday, August 28 2009

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COMMISSIONER Kenneth Sirju yesterday declared that he will not resign from the Uff Commission of Inquiry in the wake of moves by lawyers, acting on behalf of Udecott, which have forced the inquiry chairman to threaten to cancel the final phase of hearings because of a lawyer’s row over the commissioner.

“I have no intention of resigning,” Sirju said in an interview with Newsday before declaring that he has no personal relationship with contractor Emile Elias, the chairman of NH International (Caribbean) Limited (NHIC), contrary to suggestions made by Udecott lawyers.

“I don’t even know Mr Elias, I don’t even know where Mr Elias lives; I have no social contact with the man. Of course we’ve done work for his company but that’s it.”

Udecott lawyers have raised questions over whether or not Sirju’s firm KS&P Limited has links with NHIC, a party to the proceedings. The queries come on the eve of the planned fourth phase of hearings which was carded to include a detailed investigation of the Cleaver Heights housing project in Arima. Cleaver Heights is an NHIC project.

On Tuesday, inquiry chairman Professor John Uff threatened to cancel the fourth phase of hearings unless all of the parties relevant to the Cleaver Heights project agreed that Sirju should be allowed to stay on. Uff set a deadline of today for the resolution of the issue, but that deadline has since been pushed back to next Tuesday.

Yesterday, Sirju noted that his consulting firm KS&P Limited has done work for NHIC and other firms such as Udecott. “We are consultants who provide technical services to whoever wants it including Udecott and NIPDEC. But that is one category of operations which has nothing to do with a commission of inquiry,” he said.

“We must remember that the original terms of reference of the inquiry had nothing to do with Cleaver Heights and NHIC was not a part of the proceedings.

“When the terms of reference were expanded to include that project I said to the commissioners that our company has in the past provided services and they enquired as to what kind of services. I made it clear to the rest of the commissioners that it was technical work. We have done a lot more work for Udecott so I don’t know what the point is. It just seems to be blown out of proportion.

“In my own case I was once an expert for (Works) Minister (Colm) Imbert in an arbitration matter with NHIC,” he added.

He noted that while objections have been raised by Udecott’s lawyers, Udecott is not a party to the proceedings in relation to the Cleaver Heights project. “Udecott is not an interested party in that project,” he said.

Asked if he would be willing to recuse himself from the fourth phase of hearings, Sirju said, “I would consult with the other commissioners and if they think that’s the best route then I will have no objection at all.”

Sirju’s comments came as moves were afoot yesterday to organise an emergency meeting of all of the parties in the inquiry who are involved in Cleaver Heights for today. Newsday has learnt that while Udecott has no involvement in the project, on Wednesday it wrote the commission secretariat asking for disclosure of documents in relation to NHIC and a holding company involved in Cleaver Heights as well as a land valuation for the Cleaver Heights land. The correspondence would suggest Udecott’s legal team envisioning a role for themselves in the hearings into Cleaver Heights, notwithstanding the lack of Udecott’s involvement in the project.

NHIC chairman Emile Elias yesterday said he has no relationship with Sirju and argued that engineers, as professionals, can be expected to act on jobs for a wide range of clients impartially.

“Personally, I have absolutely zero relationship with commissioner Sirju either professional or personal,” Elias said.

“However NHIC has in the past used the firm of KS&P, of which Commissioner Sirju is a part, for professional engineering services. Commissioner Sirju represented Colm Imbert against NHIC in the Grenada stadium arbitration, which Imbert lost, and notwithstanding that NHIC has confidence in the professional integrity and independence of commissioner Sirju.

“If he provides engineering services to a variety of clients including Mr Imbert and Udecott and others then NHIC does not view his professional involvement with many different engineering activities as affecting his integrity or personal independence as an expert to carry out the functions as a commissioner.

“Engineers, like lawyers, can appear for a variety of clients in different circumstances without compromising their professional integrity. For example, Mr Imbert’s personal attorney (senior counsel Seenath) Jairam is the attorney for the commissioners and we have raised no objections because we have confidence in his professional integrity,” Elias said.

The fourth phase of hearings had also been carded to see testimony relating to the role of Mrs Sherrine Hart, the wife of Udecott executive Calder Hart. Mrs Hart’s ex-husband Carl Khan has lodged sworn testimony with the inquiry deposing that Mrs Hart’s in-laws were the directors of the company which her husband awarded a $368 million Udecott contract.