After the horse has bolted

IN LIGHT of what has been revealed about the FW Oil-Soldado scandal, the Prime Minister’s announcement that anti-bribery clauses are included in the contract for construction of ALNG Train Four is both timely and welcome. According to Mr Manning, these clauses were inserted “to make the future of this country as secure as possible” and to ensure that, if improper payments are ever detected, the contract will be voided. In our view, such a provision should have been embedded in the conditions of every contract signed between TT and a foreign company, but in any case it is better late than never. Such clauses would serve as strong deterrents to the kind of corruption which we are now hearing about with respect to the contract awarded to the Texas oil company for development of the South West Soldado oilfield. According to Attorney General Glenda Morean-Phillip, a total of $800,000 has been paid to a former UNC minister and his wife as an “improper consideration” for influencing the award of the contract.

In addition, the AG released documents which indicate that certain officials in TT had demanded a US $1.5 million bribe and “threatened to block FWO’s proposals unless the bribe was paid.” Another document told of an attempt by former Junior Energy Minister William Chaitan withdrawing the contract awarded to FWO secretly and without authority because he apparently wanted to “guide” the project to a Canadian energy company in which he had an interest. The Attorney General says that all these instances of corruption, including the InnCogen affair, are being investigated but it seems to us that these investigations are taking an unduly long time. The FWO-Soldado scandal, for example, was first exposed by an investigation done by ISS in 2000 and since then investigations have led apparently to nowhere. Over three years and no action whatever. This apparent impotence seems even stranger when we now learn that the AG has in her possession four cheques for the US$130,000 which she said was paid into a Jersey bank account in the name of a former UNC minister and his wife.

An abundance of evidence to support the reports and allegations of corruption under the former government has been produced but up to now no one has been held accountable and, as a result, the Opposition can continue blithely to dismiss the charges as concocted attempts to embarrass them or as election gimmicks by the PNM. The level and extent of corruption that has so far been revealed amounts to a horrendous and intolerable blot on the country’s public life, and our apparent incapacity to deal decisively with it makes a mockery of our law enforcement capability, our system of justice and the necessity for us to maintain the highest standards of integrity in public life. Indeed, the more evidence that emerges now seems to send an unfortunate message to the rest of the country, that inspite of all the rhetoric and anti-corruption posturing we are not really impelled by a repugnance of such wrong-doing and a commitment to bring the culprits to justice. Milllions, perhaps billions, of taxpayer’s money have been siphoned off into private pockets, or rather bank accounts, huge bribes have been paid for granting mega-project contracts, and we seem unable also to deal with this kind of crime. The powers that be seem content with merely exposing the malfeasance. However welcome it may be, the anti-bribery clauses inserted in the Atlantic LNG Train Four project by the PNM government may be seen as closing the stable after the horse has bolted. And the energy and desire needed to retrieve the horse seems somewhat lacking.