Wade Mark accuses Plipdeco of stonewalling Parliament

However, speaking at a public meeting of the PAEC in the Parliament Chamber of the Red House yesterday, Plipdeco chairman Cmdr Kayam Mohammed told Mark: "I think we are cooperating as best as we can." Quoting from an April 20 letter from Price-WaterhouseCoopers (PWC) partner Steve Ragoobar to the company, Plipdeco audit committee chairman Ian De Souza said PWC reviewed documents relevant to the cranes’ purchase, was satisfied that adequate and relevant documentation existed on the matter, and withdrew its earlier comments "with respect to the issue of the purchase of the cranes."

De Souza added that an internal audit report referred to by Mark could not be provided to the PAEC because it was not an official company document and, "we cannot produce something, that in our view, does not exist." "This is like Alice in Wonderland. Curiouser and curiouser," observed Mark, who then asked if Plipdeco could provide the PAEC with certain additional information regarding the procurement of the two cranes (including a report sent to Junior Finance Minister Christine Sahadeo).

Mohammed said some of the information Mark was requesting could not be provided to the PAEC because it forms part of two matters which Plipdeco has in the High Court and a full-scale forensic audit is soon to be under-taken by Ernst and Young at the company. A visibly enraged Mark then snapped: "You cannot stonewall this committee by referring to legal advice all the time. So this means to say that if there are any acts of impropriety at Plipdeco, you are using the flag of legal advice to stonewall our work. We have ways and means of resolving this matter. This is not a ‘Mickey Mouse’ arrangement here. We are talking about $60 or some $50 million of public funds. We have a responsibility at the PAEC level to account to the Parliament and the people on this matter. All Plipdeco is doing is making excuses as far as I am concerned."

De Souza replied that Plipdeco had committed $1.7 million to provide the PAEC with any information it requested. Mohammed also claimed that the last time Plipdeco gave evidence in private to the PAEC, it somehow found its way into the press. La Brea MP Hedwidge Bereaux told Plipdeco officials, "It always sends strange messages when it appears that a board or anybody using legal advice not to allow for investigation." He advised Plipdeco’s board of directors to seek the advice of the Attorney General. "We should be on the same side, the side of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago," Bereaux said.

After additional explanations and assurances from Mohammed, Mark said he felt Plipdeco was doing its best to assist the PAEC and it was not the committee’s intention to damage the reputation of anyone who comes before it. However, Mark said the PAEC would never compromise itself in the performance of its duties to the Parliament and people of TT.