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Letter to the Editor
As a citizen of Trinidad and
Tobago I feel compelled to raise my voice as I witness this farce called an
Enquiry into the Construction Industry which is being acted out before our
eyes. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the representative of us the
people is 100 percent shareholder in UDECOTT. That fiduciary interest is held
by the Corporation Sole - a creature of the late Dr. Eric Williams - on
behalf of all the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
But where is the voice of the
Corporation Sole, in fact the Minister of Finance, in all this? Where is the
voice of our Prime Minister which was heard at the recent Summit of Americas in
Trinidad and Tobago and later at the United Nations and, no doubt, will be heard
later this year at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Trinidad
and Tobago? I do not hear Nero's fiddle while our Rome burns.
In my experience in the
construction industry seldom, if ever, are we allowed the luxury of five months
to prepare tender documents for projects. Every construction project is deemed
urgent by my client, the State. Yet this important (?) Commission of Enquiry
has been adjourned for five months. Even when it resumes in February 2010 it
will first be addressing matters of judicial bias and the validity of the
enquiry itself before resuming, if at all, hearings on the pertinent issues
which are the subject of the enquiry. More delay! If there has been no wrong
doing, then let the truth come out.
The Enquiry was not
gazetted. To date nobody has been brought to book for this omission as far as I
am aware. In times past when the civil service (as it was then called) was
controlled by a Colonial Secretariat someone was likely to be surcharged for
such an act of negligence.
Who will defend the interest
of the people of Trinidad and Tobago? It does not appear that the "father" is
about to take that step. So citizens all, let us raise our voices against
corruption seriously and consistently from whatever quarter.
Cleveland Leonard
Diego Martin
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