By SEAN DOUGLAS Wednesday, March 10 2010

PLANNING Minister Emily Dick-Forde has alleged that former Udecott chairman Calder Hart, who last Saturday resigned his post and fled Trinidad, was hounded out of the country. She was answering reporters’ queries yesterday during the Senate tea-break.

Dick-Forde, who is line minister for Udecott which she has repeatedly defended, claimed not to have heard of public calls for her to resign.

“Oh, there are calls for me to step down? I am totally unaware of them. I’m not aware of them so I can’t respond. It would not be the first time, you know.”

Asked to react to Hart’s resignation, Dick-Forde said, “Mr Hart’s resignation would have been a surprise, but it also would not have been, because I think if any of you as human beings would have been hounded and treated the way he has been, I think you all would understand. So, a resignation is part of normal governance, people move on, but I think in the circumstances, we in Trinidad and Tobago should be very ashamed of what has happened, a person, a human being has been treated very, very badly, by us.” Dick-Forde shed no light on the circumstances of Hart’s exit, when asked if Hart had been pushed to go. “I don’t know anything about that. No, I don’t. I see it all over the media, but I don’t know anything about that.”

Should the entire Udecott board be replaced? She replied, “We’ll deal with that in time.”

Independent Senator Michael Annisette who is a Udecott director refused to condemn Hart, saying there is insufficient information to do so. Asked if the Udecott board should resign, Annisette said, “The whole issue of Mr Calder Hart’s resignation and people stepping down and the letter is still up in the air. As I have been saying, I can only judge something on the basis of the facts that I have before us. Until there is incontrovertible evidence and facts that are coming out to support what is being said, at that point I will make my decision.”

Newsday said the facts are that Hart fled the country after the disclosure of birth certificates showing links to two former CH/Sunway directors. Annisette replied: “Let the process evolve. Let the authenticity of the documents.. (be proven).. because I know of documents in Customs involving Udecott that were looking authentic but at the end of the day when they went through scrutiny were not authentic. It’s unfair to anybody for anybody to make allegations and suggestions until there is incontrovertible evidence.”

Annisette then admitted he had spoken to Hart on Sunday after Hart fled Trinidad. He declined to give details of their conversation, saying it was a personal call.

From their talk, did he expect Hart to return to Trinidad? Annisette said, “Yes, yes. He didn’t give a specific time, but he will be back.”

Annisette, who is deputy chairman of the National Insurance Board (NIB), expects the board to meet this week, so too the Udecott board, while the NIPDEC board has an emergency meting today.

Asked about calls for Udecott’s dealings to be probed, he said he has no problem with anything being investigated to satisfy people’s curiosity. “I have nothing to hide. If some people say forensic audit, then go ahead, because I have no cocoa in the sun, so I’m afraid of nothing.”