Calder Hart sues Las Alturas Commission of Inquiry

The report, which was laid in Parliament in September last year, said Hart should be held responsible for the failed $26 million towers.

While the report advised that no criminal action should be taken against anyone, Hart was singled out under the heading “civil liabilities.” The report said, “Mr Calder Hart was clearly the mind and the management of Udecott with respect to this project. He failed to do that which a prudent buyer would have done in the purchase of the land.

He was required to do an inspection of the land before purchase and if he had done that he would have seen all the facts that operate against its suitability for the project.

He therefore should be held accountable and liable for the losses sustained in the execution of the project.” Hart has gone on record to say he did not find the report fair. He also labelled the report as “procedurally flawed” and “defective in substance.” The former Udecott boss’s lawsuit against the commission came up for hearing yesterday before Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell and was held in a small, private chamber court on the second floor of the Hall of Justice in Portof- Spain. Details of the hearing were kept private.

The commission of enquiry was set up to investigate “the entire process which led to the construction of the Las Alturas Towers at Lady Young Gardens, Morvant, and all other acts, matters or decisions done or undertaken incidental to and including the construction” of the project, which included the procurement process.

Two multi-storey units of the housing project began falling apart after construction and the $26 million towers were earmarked for demolition. They were part of a larger project, which was originally budgeted at $65 million and then rose to $90 million.

The commission was chaired by former Justice of Appeal Mustapha Ibrahim and included civil engineers Dr Myron Wing-Sang Chin and Anthony Farrell.