Hinds clears air on Port contract

Hinds was responding to allegations suggested by Opposition Members of Parliament David Lee and Surujrattan Rambachan that McMillan, through his firm, had received a $240 million contract from the Port Authority despite not following proper tendering procedures.

But, Hinds noted, since Mc- Millan had already submitted a report on the transition that had been accepted by the Port’s management and board, the Port waived the requirements as McMillan was the best suited for the position.

The reason his company had only recently been incorporated was at the request of the Port, which had told McMillan it would have preferred to do business with a company rather than an individual.

“It was well known by the Port — nothing corrupt or sinister about it,” Hinds told the Parliament Monday night in his contribution to the Budget Debate.

From 2005 to 2014, the contract with Bay Ferries had cost US$85.7 million — or TT$549 million — for, among other things, drydocking, management and operations.

There was supposed to have been a transfer of technology and training, Hinds added, but that never happened.

“We can’t afford that amount of US dollar outflow. This question of transition is not new. It began under the UNC. Captain McMillan was hired by a UNC board (at the Port) and was working with a team of experts.

He wrote a report. The new Port board (under chairman Christine Sahadeo) thought it was useful so they decided to keep it,” Hinds said.

The Bay Ferries contract came to an end on September 30, 2015, Hinds added, and Magellan was hired only to oversee the transition — not take over from Bay Ferries — to ensure there was no service disruption.