FORMER UNC government ministers Dr Roodal Moonilal and Jack Warner rejected the Prime Minister’s call for the Parliament’s Land and Physical Infrastructure Joint Select Committee (JSC) to urgently examine the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project and report its findings to Parliament.
Dr Rowley made this call in a statement to the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
But their former Cabinet colleague Stephen Cadiz said Rowley was within his rights to send the matter to a JSC.
Moonilal, Warner and Cadiz were three members of a ministerial oversight committee for the project under the former UNC-led People’s Partnership (PP) government.
The committee was chaired by then-prime minister (now Opposition Leader) Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Other members were Winston Dookeran, Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Emmanuel George, Kevin Ramnarine and Stacy Roopnarine.
Dr Rowley said the public needs answers about what happened with that project under the PP from May 24 2010-September 7, 2015.
“The public, through its representatives in this House, must seek and obtain answers from all persons involved in or associated with this scandal.
“This is even more necessary since, in recent times, attempts have been made to give opportunity to person/s to put misinformation on the parliamentary record.”
Rowley listed what he said were some burning questions.
“By what process, advice and documentation was it determined that the billion-dollar contract must be amended to grant an $852 million waiver to (Construtora) OAS (the Brazilian company that was the project’s contractor under the PP)?
“Who authorised the amendment of the contract?
“What was the specific purpose and benefit to be had and by whom?
“Who actually carried out the instructions?
“What was the role of the Ministry of Works and Transport, the board of Nidco (National Infrastructure Development Company), the consultant and the management in effecting the amendment and its consequential waiver?”
While the project was a concept of the former Patrick Manning administration, Rowley said the facts showed the project did not begin under the PNM.
“The Pt Fortin highway exercise was initiated through the process of invitation of tenders in early 2010.”
But he said, “Although tenders were received in April 2010, the contract was not awarded by the PNM prior to the May 24 general election, since the bids received were significantly higher than the engineer’s estimate of $3.6 billion.”
A proper review and revision were called for but did not happen before the election.
On March 4, 2011, the PP awarded a design-build contract to OAS for $5.2 billion. Warner was works and transport minister at that time.
In a statement, Moonilal described Rowley’s statement as “a most bizarre-yet witchhunt, an eerie wild goose chase into a 15-year-old project.”
He thought Rowley would have used his speaking time to “announce effective anti-crime operational measures and policies.”
Instead, Moonilal continued, Rowley “presented a long-winded unsigned and undated docum
