Integrity Commission to probe Manning’s ‘free trips’

The Integrity Commis-sion is seeking information “from the appropriate sources” regarding the circumstances under which Prime Minister Patrick Manning secured “free trips” from Repsol and British Gas. Presumably these “sources” would include the Prime Minister as well as the two energy corporations which provided the sponsored trips.

The Commission made this disclosure in a letter to UNC MP Roodal Moonilal. Moonilal wrote to the Com-mission asking that they en-quire whether Prime Minis-ter Patrick Manning violated any laws when he accepted trips paid by energy companies in December. “I believe that this is a case of a ‘conflict of interest’ since both companies are heavily involved in the energy business in Trinidad and Tobago and will of necessity regularly seek the assistance, facilitation and support of Gov-ernment agencies and officials,” Moonilal wrote.

The Commission, in a letter dated January 30, responded that while the provision of “free trips” from the Prime Minister by named energy corporations had been widely publicised in the media, the Integrity Commission, as a “prelude to any investigation, is seeking information from the appropriate sources re-garding the circumstances under which these trips were made available.” The letter was signed by Commission chairman, Gor-don Deane. Manning has admitted to accepting these free trips, stating that such trips are standard in the industry.