Airport Inquiry — Week in review

The Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco airport project has entered its second phase. That is the phase where persons who were implicated by the evidence of witnesses are summoned to appear to challenge the evidence by cross-examination, direct evidence or by calling supporting witnesses. Last Friday marked the 116th day of the Inquiry.

Tuesday
Jearlean John tried to fire Cateau but ‘magician’ kept his job

FORMER Transport Minister Jearlean John tried to fire Peter Cateau, her Ministry’s representative on the Piarco airport development project. This was revealed on Tuesday when the inquiry resumed. It was also revealed that her predecessor Minister of Works and Transport, Sadiq Baksh, never acted on Cateau’s suggestion that an independent auditing firm be hired to balance the books on the controversial project. John at the time was being questioned by Cateau’s attorney, Dawn Mohan.

Referring to Cateau’s contract, John explained the conditions under which the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) representative could be dismissed. Asked by Mohan if she ever tried to fire Cateau, the former minister replied: “Yes, I did. Through the PS (Permanent Secretary of the MOWT)”. Questioned how Cateau was able to keep his job, John declared: “Birds of a feather.  He got them to renew it unilaterally. It was not because of a lack of action on the part of the Ministry. He is a magician.” She disagreed with Mohan that Cateau was a hard-working patriot. According to John, Cateau never complained to her that he was overburdened but seemed to believe he was a “powerful man”.

Wednesday
NIPDEC GM: Bayley excused himself from project

THE FORMER Chairman of NIPDEC, Edward Bayley, at no time ever participated in discussions or negotiations for contracts as they pertained to the Piarco airport development project. On April 25, 1998 he indicated to the Board that based on information given in Parliament, he was a Director of Maritime, and out of an abundance of caution he would not preside over matters dealing with the project. Confirmation of these details were given on Wednesday by Margaret Thompson, NIPDEC’s General Manager when she was questioned by Bayley’s attorney, Sonny Maharaj, SC.

Thompson recalled being told on September 10, 1998 by Bayley of her appointment as Acting General Manager. His announcement was made in the presence of several directors at a board meeting. She also confirmed that at the same meeting she was told that Trevor Romano, a Director, would act as liaison between herself and the Board because she was new in the position. Thompson said it was not true to say that Bayley had lied to her about Romano’s role, because it was not recorded in the minutes of the meeting. Thompson agreed that when she was promoted she received a $15,000 monthly acting allowance taking her monthly salary to $30,000.

Friday
Airport boss: There was a security shortage

FORMER head of security at Piarco International Airport, Dennis John wrote to a Transition Manager on December 14, 1999, complaining about shortage of security officers at the airport. This eventually led to management incurring a cost of $294,475 a month. This was revealed  by Linus Rogers, chairman of the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (AATT), when he was cross-examined by Dennis John’s attorney, Sean Cazabon. The AATT chairman was recalled to the Piarco Airport Commission of Inquiry by Cazabon who said he was seeking clarification on some issues based on evidence given by Rogers on November 18, 2002.

Quoting from the letter written by John, Rogers said John wrote that in 1984 the AATT approved 147 security officers, among them 125 Estate Constables. John wrote that 143 Estate Constables were deployed on a 24-hour shift system for one year, but in December of 1998, there were only 97 Estate Constables on shift duty. This shortage, John claimed, placed a heavy burden on the officers and had a direct effect on transit flights which forced management to incur an additional cost of $294,475 per month. The letter further stated that security officers complained of ill health. Rogers said attempts to rectify the situation proved futile and there were legal constraints between the AATT and the Estate Police Association. “So from this letter, we can safely say that John did everything in his power to solve the overtime problem,” attorney Cazabon put to Rogers.