HART TAKES UFF ON A PRIVATE TOURBy Andre Bagoo Friday, December 11 2009
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HART THE HOST: Udecott executive chairman Calder Hart, left, Prof John Uff, chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into Udecott, centre, and commission...
HE MAY not have appeared at the fourth phase of the Uff Commission of Inquiry to address allegations raised by his wife’s ex-husband Carl Khan, but Udecott executive chairman Calder Hart took time out of his busy schedule yesterday to personally give chairman of the inquiry, Professor John Uff, a tour of the brand new National Academy for the Performing Arts in Port- of-Spain.
Uff, accompanied by fellow commissioner Desmond Thornhill, counsel for the commission Ian Roach and inquiry secretariat Judith Gonzalez were all taken at 9.41 am on an hour-long private tour of the sprawling $518 million facility which has been constructed on the Princes Building Grounds in Port-of-Spain. They were accompanied by Michael Zhang, the managing director of the project’s contractor Shanghai Construction Group (SCG).
Attorney Michael Quamina, who represented the interest of the Government in the inquiry, was also present. However, attorneys for other parties in the proceedings, such as the Joint Consultative Commission and Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley, were not aware of the private tour.
Uff, who last night left Trinidad and Tobago for London hours after the specially arranged visit, closed off oral proceedings in the inquiry on Wednesday afternoon. At that time, he had left it open for parties to make representations to him yesterday morning, if needed, before the issuing of written instructions on the timeline for filing written closing submissions.
The commissioners had also scheduled yesterday morning to deal with overflow from their original schedule, but because lawyers in the proceedings did not need more time to cross-examine witnesses the schedule was free, paving way for the private tour. It is understood that Uff received a last-minute invitation to tour the academy from high-level government sources. Inquiry sources would only say that the invitation came “from high-up” and not from lawyers involved in the proceedings.
“We were invited to have a view,” Uff said when questioned on the origins of the tour after it ended at 11 am. “I really don’t know. The message was passed on to me by telephone.”
From as early as 9 am, Hart was at the site of the academy, readying it for its special visitors. He chatted with Quamina who arrived about half-an-hour later in the foyer of the grand building which it has been said was inspired by the national flower, the Chaconia. Security guards present did not permit this reporter to get close to Hart or to enter the foyer of the building or even ascend the steps at its entrance.
Uff and Thornhill arrived by chauffeur and were quickly whisked inside the shimmering steel and glass-panelled structure, which has also been described in some quarters as resembling a high-tech space-ship.
Newsday understands that they were taken on an extensive tour of the facility which includes a 1,500-seat theatre where the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was held last month. The commissioners were also shown a part of the controversial 60-room hotel on the premises, a hotel which triggered questions of Udecott’s planning and accountability to Cabinet one year ago when Rowley raised questions about it on the eve of his being sacked by Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
The private tour was the second visit of the commissioners to the project. Uff and Thornhill, along with commissioner Kenneth Sirju, visited the site in January, back when the academy was a mere shell of its current incarnation. Sirju missed yesterday’s tour, however, because he was recused from the fourth phase of hearing, which was carded to involve an examination of Cleaver Heights, because of conflict of interest. Commissioner Israel Khan SC, who later resigned, had missed the original tour.
The visit came just two days after the commissioners refused an invitation lodged by lawyers for Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert and Hart to have them pay a second visit to the Cleaver Heights housing project in Arima.
Uff this week indicated that lawyers for Hart had opted not to have Carl Khan cross-examined over three sworn statutory declarations which he submitted to the inquiry on the eve of the close of hearings. The declarations detail links between Hart’s wife Sherrine Hart and Sunway Construction Caribbean Limited, a company to which the Udecott board has awarded $668 million in contracts. Lawyers for Hart and Udecott staff have said Khan’s evidence is contested and “questionable”, but have not taken up any opportunities afforded to them to have Khan cross-examined.
The private site visit by the commissioners came on a busy day for staff at the Port-of-Spain academy. Also paying a visit to the facilities were officials from the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) who were also given a guided tour. The building was constructed by SGC and project-managed by Udecott under a government-to-government arrangement with China said to involve a US$130 million loan.
