The ‘moral and spiritual’ PNM that Lakhan forgot

He has obviously forgotten that Selwyn Richardson, an esteemed former AG (1976-1981) who served this country with distinction, relinquished his PNM membership in 1981 and devoted his life to exposing what he referred to as “the incredible corruption” that had drained our country of so much.

He said this at a presentation with Robert Lindquist, the forensic accountant who cracked cases involving long-serving Eric Williams confidantes John O’Halloran and Francis Prevatt, along with others. Richardson was assassinated in 1982 and his murder remains unsolved.

He exposed the following: bribes in 1977 totalling $22,281,549.38 (today’s value) in respect of the PNM and the Mc- Donald-Douglas Corporation.

This was investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Interestingly, even then the officials of that former aerospace company refused to stay in Trinidad to testify and flew in daily to do so because of threats made by O’Halloran and his government’s refusal to ensure their security. All of this in a memo by a former member of the PNM and AG of this country.

His memo also referred to a 1983 arrest warrant for the same former PNM minister for receiving a $22,158,962.05 (today’s value) in respect of the construction of a Caroni racing complex which was begun and subsequently abandoned, leaving tons of steel buried in the swamp.

I should also refute Lakhan’s impression that the PNM always did what was best for the whole country. Richardson’s memo also referred to the “50-50 deal” made between the PNM and Tesoro — a Texas oil company — wherein each party put up $432,046,034.47 (today’s value) toward the establishment of Trinidad Tesoro Ltd but one in which the PNM allowed Tesoro to pay the country only $2,160,230.18 (today’s value) with the remainder to be paid over the ensuing years in “royalties”.

When oil prices skyrocketed in the 1970s, this country’s annual revenue jumped from $6,874,202,714.40 in 1973 to $45,286,753,005.90 in 1982. When the oil boom was over in 1986, the then PNM government bought out Tesoro for $2,743,650,000 — a significant return on Tesoro’s original $2 million investment thanks to the PNM.

Tesoro had been sued by its shareholders in the US but this case was dismissed. During that trial it was learnt that between July 1969 and January 1970, Tesoro paid $81,935,705.69 (today’s value) to a company owned by John Rahr for consulting services in respect of the Tesoro deal. The latter in a deposed statement implicated both O’Halloran and PNM’s then Minister of Finance Francis Prevatt in the receipt of bribes.

So this is the PNM of 1956 that Rowley insists has high “moral and spiritual values” and about which Lakhan boasts.

Steve Smith via email