CHAIRMAN of the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) Noel Garcia says Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal and Opposition Senator Wade Mark are "intent on mischief," and are spreading inaccurate financial information about the cost of the Prime Minister's residence in Blenheim, Tobago.

He was speaking at a press conference in Port of Spain on Tuesday afternoon.

On November 6, Moonilal called for an independent investigation into the cost of construction of the residence.

He had said the cost, as stated in documents from Udecott, moved from a initial budget of $25 million to $63 million.

In addition, Mark said Dr Rowley was “dancing around” the topic of the residence's refurbishment.

He said the budget for the residence moved from $17.5 million to $42 million.

Garcia said it is clear the men "are not getting their figures right," adding that Moonilal made similar allegations in August 2019.

He said in 2019, Moonilal alleged the project's budget jumped from $2 million to $20 million.

He said it does not seem as though Mark and Moonilal discussed this since they both gave differing costs.

"For some strange reason, they are intent on mischief...because I can only describe what is happening as mischief.

"Your numbers are not adding up."

He said the project was never a refurbishment but was a construction project "from day one.

"...And this residence is not Keith Rowley's residence – it is the residence of the Prime Minister of TT.

"The project budget was never $25 million, the project cost never moved from $25 million - $63million, (Udecott) never confirmed any cost overruns, (Udecott) never certified any payments of $48 million and there's no $15.4 million left unpaid."

He said it seems the source of the "mixup" is that in 2018, the estimated budget was $22,022,567 – a cost which included VAT.

The original contract's budget, he said, was $20,305,020.18 and there was an additional cost of $8,150,131.86 to deal with "security issues.

There was also another fee of $8,679,290.53 to ensure the building was "fit for purpose."

"As a result, the cost was revised to $37,134,000," Garcia said.

He said it feels like deja-vu and that he's not sure what Udecott has to do again to stop the Opposition members from spreading disinformation.

"They're using different figurers and, as time rolls, the figures grow bigger and bigger and bigger.

"So I suspect in three years' time, we may expect the project now to be a $250 million project with a cost overrun of $500 million."

He said they're trying to cause disquiet, mistrust and suspicion.

"We have nothing to hide...We keep our figures the same.

"My mother-in-law always said a liar needs to have good retention because if you don't have good retention, you forget what you say."

Asked if Udecott plans to take legal action, Garcia said that would be "a waste of taxpayers' dollars.

"Let the public be the judge.

"We don't need a court of law to judge him. He'll be judged in the court of public opinion."

He called on both men to apologise.

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