By Andre Bagoo Tuesday, March 9 2010

ACTING Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard is expected to today come to a decision on fresh documents submitted to him by the Congress of the People (COP) which disclose apparent family links between former Udecott executive chairman Calder Hart and a company Udecott awarded $820 million in contracts.

Newsday understands Gaspard yesterday examined the documents, including copies of birth and marriage certificates which appear to conclusively link Hart’s wife Sherrine to Sunway Construction Caribbean Limited, the company at work on the Ministry of Legal Affairs Tower in downtown Port-of-Spain.

Yesterday the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC) urged the acting DPP to treat the matter urgently.

“In the absence of a sitting Integrity Commission, the Chamber understands that the (acting) DPP is reported to have signaled his intention to examine the recent documents submitted to him,” the TTCIC said in a press release. “We therefore urge the DPP to treat this matter as urgent and return to the nation to advise whether or not in his opinion the information warrants further investigation.”

Yesterday, Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh, who had also previously written Gaspard on the matter and whose correspondence to the Office of the DPP was referred to Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert, wrote Attorney General John Jeremie on the matter.

Noting that he had also, by letter dated October 29, 2009, written to Jeremie over Hart, Gopeesingh called on the Attorney General to once more launch a probe of the matter.

“In light of the new developments in the past few days in this matter, namely, the unearthing of concrete documentary familial links between Calder Hart and the directors of CH Development Construction Ltd, the resignation of Mr Hart from all State corporations and his leaving the country and the fears that his sudden departure may result in his unavailability to assist the authorities in any probe...I wish to reinforce my original request to you that you use your good office to probe... Mr Hart,” Gopeesingh wrote.

Trinidad and Tobago Transparency International chairman Victor Hart also called on the Government to commission a forensic audit of Udecott as well as another entity formerly chaired by Hart, the National Insurance Property Development Company.

“In order to be able to account to taxpayers for the spending of their money, Government needs to immediately commission a forensic audit of all recent major Udecott and NIPDEC projects and the results published,” Hart said. He called for the resignation of the board of Udecott and urged that the Uff Commission of Inquiry into Udecott be allowed to complete its work.”