Port authority investigates itself

In a release issued late Tuesday evening, the board said it received information on that day which suggested the compromise and has commissioned an investigation into the procurement process. To this end the board said, it has put measures in place to ensure the investigation is satisfactorily executed.

“Furthermore, steps have been taken to facilitate the investigation consistent with proper industrial relations practices.” Two members of staff including chief executive officer Leon Grant were suspended on Tuesday.

Efforts to contact board chairman and deputy chairman to get more information on the board’s investigation were futile.

Asked about the investigations by the board, the suspensions and the seizure of a computer, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said, “That is the day to day running of the port. I have no report of any internal investigation.” On the sole investigator appointed by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to investigate the circumstances surrounding the procurement of the Ocean Flower II from the Vancouver-based Bridgeman’s Services Group, Sinanan said, “I welcome and I look forward to the findings.” On the Integrity Commission probe, he said, “I have no idea of that.” Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar called on Rowley to bring clarity on how the port “can undertake an investigation into itself while the prime minister and Cabinet purport to appoint a ‘sole investigator’ into the procurement of the seabridge vessels.” She said Rowley must say who or which organisation is conducting the investigation and who they are reporting to.

It is reported, she said, that Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) is PATT’s selected investigator, and if this is true, “We ask on what basis and process has this company been selected?” She said PWC is banned in India and this week they were slapped with a $45 million fine in Britain for misconduct over its auditing function.

Now 23 months in office, she said, Government has engaged only two auditing firms, PWC and Ernst and Young, which have allegedly received over $30 million in contracts of which 90 per cent has allegedly been paid out when Government claims to be cash-strapped. She called on the PATT board and Sinanan to resign immediately.

She said if Sinanan does not resign forthwith, Rowley should move with alacrity to fire him just as he did with Port of Spain South MP Marlene McDonald, “not once, but twice.”