Category: UDECOTT

They Were Investigating? An Honest Man And His Hart?

March 11, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

The revelation in Trinidad and Tobago Newspapers that Calder Hart had was part of a criminal investigation as of September, 2009, casts some question as to whether the man holding the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, is indeed an honest man as his pastor alleges.

Why would I write that? There's a problem with the data. Both articles referencing the investigation (linked above) say that the Prime Minister was aware of the investigation that started in September of 2009. Yet in Patrick Manning's 45 documented defenses of Calder Hart, he defended Calder Hart after the investigation was underway:

Hold on one UDeCOTT-on-picking minute!

March 9, 2010 by Edmund Gall

I just watched one of the most enlightening discussions on the concerns about UDeCOTT on C TV with Afra Raymond.  I wish C TV posted clips of its First Up breakfast show online.  Here were the key points from the interview.

All special purpose state bodies are supposed to publish annual financial accounts.  UDeCOTT's last published accounts were for 2006.

When determining whether to proceed with commercial property projects, developers usually do a feasibility study to examine, for e.g., what's the expected return on investment and break-even rents.  Raymond asked Calder Hart if this was done for any UDeCOTT projects and he replied it was done for only one commercial project - the International Waterfront Complex (IWC).  Note: Raymond didn't expect such benchmarks to apply for projects involving public goods, e.g. NAPA, schools, health centres.

When asked what was the IWC's break-even rent, Hart replied approx. TT$20 per sqft.  Break-even rent is calculated based on UDeCOTT's monthly bank loan repayments.  Raymond indicated that this raised questions immediately since at the time the market rental for commercial properties in Port of Spain was TT$15 per sqft, i.e. if you placed a property on the market you could not expect more than TT$15 per sqft.  In other words, the total earned from a fully-rented IWC would still be below the expected loan repayment figure - the gap would have to be funded from somewhere.  So how could UDeCOTT say the project was feasible when the break-even rent was above the expected market rental rates?

Further, when Raymond asked what was the value attributed to the land on which the IWC was built, as used for its feasibility study, Hart replied: "Nil." That can't be right, and if it was included, then the break-even rent would be higher than TT$20 per sqft. {Read more}

It's Just Too Easy To Play With The 'Hart'

March 8, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

Yes, yes, it's old news. Calder Hart left. And every headline is as punny as possible (including this one) because there was a twisted sense of humour that created and defended the Hart a total of 45 times. When I heard the news on Saturday, I had better things to do than write about something that I predicted: I told many people that it was O'Halloran all over again. Perhaps the problem is that Trinidad and Tobago doesn't have sufficient history for Trinbagonians to study, thus they don't, thus they repeat it.

And, of course, the PNM isn't held in great esteem now - and neither is the man occupying the Honourable Office of Prime Minister, Patrick Manning (note the placement of Honourable). So what now? Calder Hart resigned, left and... umm... everyone has something to say.

Other UDECOTT directors are so confused that they say 'Resign for what!'   instead of 'Resign for What?'. Clearly they have no friends amongst what could be something resembling an opposition part. Winston Dookeran (COP) feels vindicated. And Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj wants to probe the criminality of Hart. Every rumshop has its share of puncheon induced people discussing the issue as intelligently as everyone else - sadly, perhaps more so - before they slalom home, breathalyzers be damned. {Read more}

Love NAPAC, hate corruption

November 15, 2009 by Edmund Gall

Can the media do no wrong?

November 14, 2009 by Edmund Gall

It's being reported today that our House of Representative's Privileges Committee has recommended that Newsday reporter, Andre Bhagoo, be banned for the remainder of this Parliament's session for being guilty of contempt of Parliament, arising from premature publishing in the Newsday of the activities of a House sub-committee before it reported its findings to Parliament (which contravenes both the Standing Orders and Erskine May Parliamentary Practice).

MATT has stated that it's a bit harsh, since the Newsday's editor has taken full responsibility for the act and apologised.  Apparently, similar acts have occurred before and the trend has been to accept the apology and move on.

This has led bloggers to criticise the government for the proposed action, as the Privileges Committee is comprised predominantly of PNM members.  Some bloggers have used this as an entry point to a discussion on fascism - see the comments following the article on the Guardian.  Some are calling for other media houses to boycott Parliament in protest.  Others see it as another example of the PNM's attempts to muzzle anyone who criticises it - apparently Mr Bagoo reports frequently on UDeCOTT issues.  Most see it as a threat to freedom of the press.

Here's the thing.  The Newsday has acknowledged that it did wrong.  So why is banning the reporter for the rest of the session (about a month, since the session ends 16 Dec 2009) being viewed as a threat to freedom of the press? {Read more}

Politics, Corruption, Cookies and Trinidad and Tobago

October 20, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

Normally I avoid the topic of politics. People who know me know why; I consider politics to be an abstraction of the actual issues - and in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as everywhere else in the world, the level of abstraction related to issues is too high. We need to get back to the issues.

Everyone has been abuzz with Calder Hart, UDECOTT, corruption Chinese workers and... well, the Beetham Gardens incident is largely forgotten. It's all rather amusing when viewed from a distance, but some interesting things have happened.

Keith Rowley's gone on the offensive in a large way. UDECOTT Worse than Piarco tells that story well, and Mr. Rowley's been pressing the point home on Facebook - where he's got 366 people presently following him; a small figure yet respectable in its own way. That few people seems more real than the many renditions of Patrick Manning on Facebook. And Rowley's allegations, spoken from a soapbox of his own personal vindication, is damning in its own way.

For better or worse, that splits the PNM base between the blind followers and those who are paying attention. And this is good for a number of reasons: {Read more}

• The moral basis against corruption should trump law. Trinidad and Tobago has a poor track record when it comes to that, and while it might be nice to say that it's as bad in other nations one should wonder whether mediocrity is a worthwhile goal. Of course, celebrating a football team that scores one goal - against itself - in the World Cup speaks volumes...
• That people are being encouraged to think critically by Rowley.
• COP and UNC supporters feel as though they've won something (though they, too, have lost ).