PM makes an about face — from an inquiry to Integrity Commission

Hours after he announced to the Parliament that he had advised the acting President to appoint a one-man Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Annestine Sealey, Prime Minister Patrick Manning rescinded that earlier decision and instead sent the Keith Rowley controversy straight to the Integrity Commission. Manning’s about-face came after a commanding contribution by Siparia MP, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in which she criticised the selection of Sealey as Commissioner and terms of reference, charging that it was a “cover-up” and called on the Integrity Commission to investigate the issue.

Almost in direct satisfaction of Persad-Bissessar’s request, Manning said: “Whoever we put as Commissioner, they would seek to discredit; whatever the terms of reference, they will try to discredit. They will just  not be happy. And we are not playing politics with integrity. Since any Commissioner we appoint, or any terms of reference we set they will seek to discredit, we have decided to do something different. We are going to refer the entire matter to the Integrity Commission. Let me see what you would say, he said, amid sustained table-thumping. Manning slammed the “effrontery” of Persad-Bissessar to suggest that he should have consulted with the Opposition before Sealey’s appointment. “You forget that people said yes to us, and no to you. And all you  trying to do is to sit on the Opposition benches and exercise executive authority. Not with a PNM government!” he declared.

In an immediate comment, Rowley stated: “Now that the matter has been referred to the competent authority, I propose to say no more until the Integrity Commission reports. I stand by my position that I have done nothing wrong and will co-operate fully with the Commission. Any further comment will only come after the Commission has reported.” In a hard-hitting, penetrating presentation, which preceded the Prime Minister’s, Persad-Bissessar argued that it was not merely  a question of the removal of materials, equipment and resources from a public place (the Scarborough General Hospital) to a private place (the private construction project owned by Rowley). The issues were deeper than that. Quoting Manning’s statement that his Government would deal “clinically and comprehensively” with corruption, Persad-Bissessar noted that according to the code of conduct in the Integrity in Public Life Act, a person in public office was required to “arrange his private interests whether pecuniary or otherwise in such a manner so as to maintain public confidence and trust in his integrity.”

Was the Prime Minister satisfied with the arrangement of the private interests of the Member for Diego Martin West? Persad-Bissessar asked. And if he was satisfied, “was he saying it was  alright for other ministers to act in a like manner?” she also asked. The Code of Conduct she noted, also stated that the person in public life could not use his office for his own, or his family’s financial interest, or the interest of any person, Persad-Bissessar again stated: “I ask the honourable Prime Minister, whether he is satisfied that when the Member held the position of Minister of Planning and was involved in a private land development project, there was no conflict of interest?” Was he also satisfied that as Minister of Housing he was  having involvement with a person who was a major contractor in the housing sector, Persad-Bissessar asked.

Ken Valley rose on a point of order to say that Persad-Bissessar was questioning the conduct of a member of the House. The Speaker disagreed. Manning then rose to say that Persad-Bissessar should let the Commission of Inquiry do its work before “casting aspersions.” However, Persad-Bissessar rejoined that the  appointment of a Commission of Inquiry did not prevent the Prime Minister from dealing with the minister, nor members of Parliament from raising questions, or the Integrity Commission from doing its duty. Noting that the code of Conduct stated that no public official should hold a position that was  incompatible with his commerical interests, Persad-Bissessar asked:  “A (former) Minister of Planning doing land development? And thereafter Housing Minister involved in a private housing project?”

“It is either that Dr Rowley has been corrupt or he has been unethical,” she charged. Persad-Bissessar said Rowley should not continue to sit as Minister with a Commission of Inquiry investigating him. She recalled that it was Rowley and Colm Imbert who used to enjoy coming to Parliament and lambasting “everybody on this side (the UNC).” “They were going to jail us all, and all that he really wanted to do was to get your hands on the Treasury,” she thundered. “I remember the Ibis High School every week he would come and say that I stole the money, and that building was my family building. That building was never mine. But Landate (Mason Hall Development Project) is yours,” she roared. Persad-Bissessar said there was another matter. She said when matterials are used in a public project, no VAT is paid on  them. “So when you are transferring from a public site to a private site, are you paying no VAT,” she asked. And she called on the Inland Revenue Department to investigate the matter.

The plot was to thicken even further as Persad-Bissessar also asked whether the Scarborough Hospital contract to NH International was legal, valid and binding. She said she had reliable information which she had verified, that NH International is incorporated not in Trinidad and Tobago, but in the Cayman Islands. Its registered office was at  Ugland House, PO Box 309, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, she revealed. Persad-Bissessar said that according to Rule 2 (6) of the Inter-American Development Bank, it does not permit a company incorporated in a country which is not a member country of the IDB, to be eligible for  any IDB contracts. Citing that the Scarborough Hospital Development Project was an IDB contract, Persad-Bissessar said the Caymans was not a member country, and therefore NH International was not eligible for the contract.