By Andre Bagoo Tuesday, September 1 2009

OPPOSITION Leader Basdeo Panday yesterday said the timing of this year’s Budget Day “may not be coincidental” and may have been timed to distract from the fourth and final phase of hearings of the Uff Commission of Inquiry if they go ahead next Monday.

Speaking in reaction to news that Finance Minister Karen Nunez Tesheira yesterday said the Budget Day will be on September 7, the same day the fourth phase of hearings was carded to begin, Panday said, “it may not be coincidental. The sitting may have been planned so that attention can be drawn away from any revelations that might emerge from the Uff Commission.”

Carl Khan, the ex-husband of the wife of the Udecott chairman Calder Hart, Sherrine Hart, has been scheduled to take the stand on September 7 for the last few months.

However, the fourth phase of hearings of the inquiry has been placed in limbo by a row over the role of commissioner Kenneth Sirju. Udecott lawyers have questioned whether Sirju has a relationship with the contractor of the Cleaver Heights housing project in Arima, NH International (Caribbean) Limited. Parties to the inquiry will meet today to discuss the issue.

Panday yesterday said he will “most likely” deliver the Opposition’s response to the Budget, a task that for the last two years has fallen to Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar due to Panday’s suspension from Parliament as well as pending legal issues.

Asked if he was ready for the task, Panday said, “I will be when I see the Budget.”

He said he anticipated “a lot of lies, a lot of promises and a lot excuses” in the Budget.

And while there have been rumours of the PNM planning a snap election, Panday said he does not anticipate an election Budget. “I don’t think PNM is going to call a snap election,” he said.