Rowley gets Transparency Institute apology

THE Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) yesterday apologised to Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday for statements made against him by TTTI director Petra Bridgemohan. At the presentation of Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report 2005 on March 16 in Port-of-Spain, Bridgemohan drew direct reference to Rowley when she said it was unethical for Government ministers to hold on to their portfolios while they are under investigation for allegations of corruption. On March 17, Dr Rowley wrote TTTI chairman Emile Valere demanding an apology from TTTI for Bridgemohan’s remarks. He said Bridgemohan “acting on spurious Opposition allegations of misconduct on my part, accused me of unethical conduct and publicly called on me to resign from my portfolio.”

Rowley further indicated that Bridgemohan had no evidence of corruption in the housing portfolio and contrary to her assertions, “the Prime Minister acted immediately to institute, not one but two enquiries by way of a referral to the Integrity Commission and a full Commission of Inquiry.” Rowley reiterated that he has fully cooperated “with all ongoing investigations” and questioned why no red flags were raised regarding the conduct of two former senior UNC government ministers while they were in office or when he was expelled from Parliament due to questions he posed about alleged corruption in the Piarco Airport Project.

In a letter to Rowley yesterday, Valere said: “I apologise for the comments issued by my fellow director Petra Bridgemohan that may have appeared to suggest your stepping down from office. “The perception of her comments is not the official position of the board.” He added that Bridgemohan’s passion “may have gotten the best of her in this case” and TTTI is an independent, non-partisan, non-governmental organisation. Regardless of Bridgemohan’s comments, Valere said “we cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater” and the public has a right to know about the status of all corruption investigations currently being pursued by the State. He pointed out that TI’s Corruption Index, often dismissed by local politicians “both on the PNM and UNC side”, is an important credibility criterion with international bodies such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and USAID.