Las Alturas COI chairman: Apologise to TT Noel Garcia

Asked yesterday to respond to Garcia’s call for him to apologise for the commission’s report that laid blame on him for being part of the failed project, failing which Garcia will sue him and the other commissioners in their private capacity for damages, Ibrahim laughed and said, “Apologise? For what?” “Why don’t I ask him to make an apology to the people of Trinidad and Tobago for the substantial sums of money (in which he was a decision-maker to build buildings in an unsuitable area for development) which were never used, or never could be used by the people of Trinidad and Tobago?” On Garcia’s comments that the report the commission presented were “blatant untruths” that could not “be supported by facts,” Ibrahim said, “Let him go and take his position to the courts if that is his position.” According to the commission’s report, Garcia appeared before the commission and “gave a very pathetic display in the witness box.” The report said it was under his stewardship that Buildings “H” and “I” were built in an area unsuitable for development.

It said that “Several decisions taken by him or on which he participated leave much to be desired.

His evidence was very unsatisfactory in many respects and decisions made by him showed lack of proper guidance and leadership which was required to oversee the project.” Garcia said that he will also be seeking a judicial review to quash “that very misleading and damaging section of the report, which was intended to ‘lick me up’.” When decisions were taken to construct the Las Alturas towers, he said he was nowhere around. He said he left the HDC in June 2008, construction started sometime in 2009, it was completed in 2010, and the problem started in 2011.

He said, he was going to sue the commissioners in their personal capacity.

Garcia told Newsday on Saturday that he was confident that when a court examines the report, it will have no choice but to rule in his favour.