By Andre Bagoo Tuesday, October 6 2009

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Deputy chairman Dr Krishna Bahadoorsingh & Banker Wendell Dottin...

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IN 1988, calypsonian Denyse Plummer famously declared “Woman is Boss”.

Yesterday, four members of the Udecott board sang a similar tune which might as well have been entitled “Udecott is Boss”.

The board members declared that when it comes to defending “the integrity and character of the company”, Udecott is free to do as it wishes even in the face of views expressed last week by Attorney General John Jeremie in relation to a court action brought by the company which stalled the Uff Commission of Inquiry.

At a special press conference hastily called at Udecott’s offices on Sackville Street, Port-of-Spain, four members of the Udecott board warned that the Uff Commission of Inquiry should not become “a runaway horse” and once more expressed its confidence in the leadership and integrity of its executive chairman Calder Hart, notwithstanding several allegations of corruption raised against him in the inquiry.

Last Thursday in the Senate, Jeremie revealed he had met Udecott lawyers and was of the understanding they would not seek a stay of the inquiry. However, the lawyers the next day pressed for a consent order which had the effect of freezing the inquiry.

Yesterday, deputy chairman Dr Krishna Bahadoorsingh said the Udecott board stood behind the actions of their attorneys in court last Friday. “Udecott is totally obedient to the wishes of Government in its development programme, while at the same time being resolutely independent of its right to defend itself against allegations which go to the integrity and character of the company and of its officials and employees,” Bahadoorsingh also said, reading from a prepared statement at the start of the press conference.

“There have been suggestions, some quite strident, that this board should resign. Let me make this clear. The board of Udecott is fully satisfied that it is and has been performing its fiduciary duties faithfully and diligently and no member has any intention of conceding to any such demands.

“Lest there should be any doubt about it, the board confirms without reservation its confidence in the leadership, competence and integrity of its executive chairman Mr Calder Hart,” Bahadoorsingh added.

In attendance at yesterday’s press conference were Bahadoorsingh as well as board members Independent Senator Michael Annisette, who arrived late at yesterday’s sitting of the Senate as a result, attorney Anthony Cherry and banker Wendell Dottin. Hart did not attend.

Bahadoorsingh further explained the nature of Udecott’s independence as a private company.

“We are owned by the Government; they own the shares, but we have to act as if we are an independent company. And this point has been missed in the mind of the public. “Yes, we are owned by the Government, we have to follow their directives under the development programme, but we must operate as a private company when it comes to all other issues,” he said.

“We hope that 100 percent of the time there would be complete harmony and no disagreement and so on, but if this were to arise we have to act in accordance with the laws that govern us.

“It is as simple as that. There is no dispute that if Government gives directions on the question of policy that we must follow it. However, it would be unfair and indeed unjust for the Government to seek to influence an attempt by an individual or a company as it were to protect its own integrity.”

Bahadoorsingh said that up until yesterday afternoon, Udecott had not received any directives on the matter from the corporation sole, the Ministry of Finance, or its line Minister Planning Minister Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde.

“So far as I’m aware I do not believe we have had any specific directives from the corporation sole on this particular matter. I can tell you unequivocally we have had no directions from our line minister on this matter,” Bahadoorsingh said.

But even if such a directive were to be given, Bahadoorsingh said, it would not be acted upon automatically but after a process of internal checking.

“I would think that if we are given a specific directive to do (something) this will be under serious consideration. We then would have to go back to our senior counsel to get advice from him. I don’t know whether the senior counsel would have suggestions at that stage,” he said. “Udecott is not in the habit of disobeying anybody. Udecott has never had issues under the PNM Government, under the UNC government we have had no issues and it is only recently that these issues have come up.”

Of the court proceedings, Cherry added, “There are certain ways that commissions of inquiry are to be conducted. It’s a court and an individual’s right is to ensure that that court is conducted in accordance with the law.

“If the commission of inquiry is not being conducted in accordance with the law it is our right to protest and to challenge that. Are you suggesting that the commission, because it is appointed by the Government, can be a runaway horse? No, it can’t be and it is our right and our lawyers’ right to protect us in the conduct of the inquiry.

“To suggest that Udecott as a company cannot seek to protect itself against an assault on its integrity is to descend or to succumb to a lynch mob.

“We are saying that we are treated unfairly, we are saying that the entire exercise is contrary to our rights and we are entitled as a company and as an individual to protect that. That has nothing to do with following Government’s policy,” he added.