Kamla, Rowley spar on Tobago airport project

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar are now in a war of words on the ANR Robinson Airport expansion project in Tobago.

This, as Rowley accused Persad-Bissessar of making a “scandalous outburst and torrent of baseless allegations” in the wake of her accusations of mismanagement and corruption on the project by Government.

In a WhatsApp message yesterday, Persad-Bissessar doubled down on accusations first made at a United National Congress cottage meeting in Las Lomas on Monday night. Calling for a criminal probe of the project, she asserted Government has been misleading the public about the project’s escalating costs. She claimed over $100 million has been approved for project variations, while China Railway Construction Caribbean Company Limited has submitted claims totalling $204 million due to 1,127 days of delays.

“The documentary evidence is shocking and this project requires a criminal investigation. The claim assessment documents show multiple instances of failure to meet specifications and building codes on the terminal building’s superstructure and foundation,” Persad-Bissessar stated.

Reiterating her claim that $431 million in cost overruns have been accrued, Persad-Bissessar accused Government of using the project to benefit People’s National Movement (PNM) financiers.

“They must answer where the half billion dollars in cost overruns went. There is massive incompetence at the project when you read the reports. I am informed that some of the sub-contractors on the project are major financiers of the PNM GE (general election) campaign,” she alleged.

Pressed for evidence linking subcontractors to the Government, Persad-Bissessar did not respond.

During the meeting, Persad-Bissessar criticised Government for attempting to fast-track the project for a soft opening next year. She also claimed that CEF Limited, the firm overseeing the project, was dismissed for refusing to approve substandard work. She also criticised National Infrastructure Development Company Limited (NIDCO) chairman Herbert George, calling his statements in November about early project completion a “blatant lie.”

In response, however, Dr Rowley dismissed Persad-Bissessar’s allegations as “a most wicked and malicious attempt to tarnish a project that brings light to Tobago and to the nation as a whole.” He admitted that some modifications occurred during construction but assured the project has been conducted with integrity.

“There have been some elements of variation over its execution, and this is not uncommon in projects of this size and scope. The Government is in a position to justify every cent that it takes to establish the facility. There is no professional misconduct or scandal in the project.”

He accused Persad-Bissessar of politicising the project, claiming her criticism was designed to undermine its success.

“The Opposition Leader, who makes a career of not supporting anything that is good for the people of Trinidad and Tobago, has now turned her hateful gaze at this project and shamelessly decided to tarnish its glow and smear any and all who are associated with it because she believes that it’s coming into being is a political benefit to the Government that is responsible for it and she is hell-bent on creating a ‘scandal’ over it where none exists.”

Despite Persad-Bissessar’s claims, Government maintains that the project will be completed to the highest standards and in the best interest of Tobago and Trinidad.

Rowley assured the public, “As the project is coming to a close in the coming months, I call on the Opposition Leader to stop slandering people with her wicked ways. The Ministry of Finance will soon report on the financing and operations of this project.”

Meanwhile, former T&T Contractors’ Association head Mikey Joseph urged caution in the matter, saying cost overruns are not inherently indicative of corruption.

“If a contract has a cost overrun and it’s in black and white, it can’t be corruption. It is only corruption if it’s found that the money was not to do the work, that it was given to somebody else… but you can’t say that in a position like this. If the Opposition Leader is reading from a document that was produced from the job and the document speaks to specific things about the project, certainly it’s not corruption,” he explained.

Political scientist Dr Bishnu Ragoonath noted that these allegations could influence the two Tobago seats in the upcoming general elections.

“We have to think about what has happened in the last year or more, the PNM’s near defeat in the THA elections, and we are about eight months before we enter into the next election. We’re not dealing with 12 months.”

“That ANR Robinson expansion was supposed to bring a certain sort of economic lifeline to Tobago. It would have allowed for a larger airlift of passengers into Tobago. It was supposed to have a positive effect on local tourism, and international travel. You have to tie in that into how it’ll effect the local economy in Tobago and the politics in Tobago.”

Attempts to reach NIDCO’s chairman were unsuccessful. Questions sent to Minister of Finance Colm Imbert via email were also unanswered up to last night.

Martin George:

Govt must come clean

Meanwhile, Tobago Business Chamber chairman Martin George has called on the Government to address the allegations.

George told Guardian Media that transparency and accountability are needed at this point to address the claims and restore public confidence, and called on Government to disclose financial records and provide a detailed explanation of the project’s expenditure.

“We recently had the proclamation of the public procurement legislation, and the whole purpose and reason and rationale behind that was so that we could try to avoid scenarios such as this, so therefore it would be a show of good faith by the Government to basically come forth answer the allegations, show what has actually happened, and if it is that they are able to disprove the allegations, then please do so.”

Saying he’s concerned about the project’s practicality and costs, he added: “We certainly don’t want it in a scenario where the candle is costing more than the funeral, because you don’t want it to end up being a big, expensive white elephant, which has the capacity, I am told, of maybe up to three million passengers a year, when in reality, even Piarco doesn’t do numbers like that.”

Referencing the past controversies involving the Piarco Airport scandal, George reminded Government of the need for diligence to avoid similar issues. He warned that without a clear response, lingering questions could lead to calls for a public inquiry or even more criminal investigations.

He noted, “If there’s evidence of that, we the citizens have to start holding our public officials accountable for their actions and inactions, especially when it comes to any wastage or alleged wastage of public funds.”

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