Calder Hart is ‘hanging tough’

In an interview last night, Bahadoorsingh said he returned to TT on Saturday night along with Hart aboard an American Airlines flight from Miami. They had not travelled together and Bahadoorsingh said he had not spoken to Hart in six weeks.

Hart is expected to face questioning by the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) some time this week, in connection with Udecott’s award of multi-million dollar contracts to Sunway Construction (Caribbean) Ltd for the Legal Affairs Towers after allegations arose surrounding his alleged link to directors of Sunway.

The Congress of the People (COP) has sourced birth and marriage certificates from Malaysia which appear to conclusively show familial links between Hart and two directors of Sunway by means of his wife, Sherrine, who the documents show is the sister and sister-in-law of the directors.

On March 6, Hart — a Canadian by birth — resigned as Udecott executive chairman and also resigned the chairmanship of several other State entities and fled the country with Sherrine. Of note is the fact that Mrs Hart did not accompany her husband back in the country.

Asked what was Hart’s mood in the midst of all the controversy, Bahadoorsingh said: “He was quite normal and spoke normally. I have known him on the Board for 16 years and there was nothing depressing. He’s a tough fellow.”

Bahadoorsingh confirmed that Hart chose to sit next to him on the flight and while they were thousands of feet in the air, they spoke, “about what happened and so on.”

Bahadoorsingh said it was a mere coincidence that he and Hart met on the same flight returning to Trinidad via Miami since he left TT for Alabama on personal business two weeks ago.

In addition to facing interrogation by ACIB detectives, Government sources yesterday speculated that Hart could also be interviewed by forensic auditor Bob Lindquist, who according to Attorney General John Jeremie, had been retained since last September to investigate the Udecott issue with respect to the Legal Affairs Tower and the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba.

Hart’s return came on the heels of Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert last week telling a press conference at Police Administration Building in Port-of-Spain, that as part of their investigations, the ACIB officers would want to speak with Hart. Ever since Hart’s absence, the Attorney General has insisted that the Government knows of Hart’s whereabouts and that he can be reached. However, police sources indicated that try as they did, they could not reach Hart at the numbers given to them, one of which is the area code for a location in the United Kingdom.

In laying the damning Uff Commission of Inquiry Report in the Senate last week, AG Jeremie indicated that the Udecott board was being “reconstituted” and that directors including Bahadoorsingh, Wendell Dottin, Anthony Cherry and former Independent Senator Michael Annisette, would be replaced.

Bahadoorsingh said Hart had indicated to him six weeks ago that he would indeed return to TT.

There was little activity at Hart’s Cascade residence yesterday. No one answered after the bell was rung and a black luxury BMW SUV was seen parked in the driveway.