PNM Scandals

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar dropped several bombshells in the House of Representatives on Monday October 17, exposing what she described as major corruption scandals which took place under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government.

Persad-Bissessar’s first bombshell was that a $45 million scholarship programme was a “PNM slush fund” and her predecessor Patrick Manning had personally written then Culture and Community Development Minister Joan Yuille-Williams to “please handle quietly” the award of scholarships to certain persons.

The Prime Minister said the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) had recommended that a forensic audit be undertaken on this programme. In addition, she said this matter would be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Integrity Commission. 

The Prime Minister dropped her second bombshell, announcing that legal action will be taken against former Udecott chairman Calder Hart, former Petrotrin chairman Malcolm Jones, former UTT and eTeck chairman Prof Ken Julien and other persons who were directors on boards of state enterprises while the PNM was in power.

She then revealed that six fast patrol vessels which the PNM bought from Australian shipbuilder Austal for $400 million have failed to function properly since they were handed over to the Coast Guard in February, 2010. 

Persad-Bissessar rose to give her contribution to the 2012 Budget debate, Works and Infrastructure Minister Jack Warner declared, “Mash them up PM. Mash them up!” 

After criticising Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley’s contribution and announcing that 27 European Union nations voted Trinidad and Tobago as the best tourist destination for this year on October 9, “in the midst of the state of emergency,” Persad-Bissessar disclosed  that Government had evidence that its PNM predecessor had breached citizens’ fundamental rights which were enshrined in the preamble of the Constitution.

Recalling the country was rocked in 2009 by a scandal in which more than $45 million was spent by the PNM on secret scholarships, Persad-Bissessar said the government minister who presided over that debacle “had already (been) hidden in a foreign post away from prying eyes of the media and investigators” and was replaced by current Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene McDonald.

Reminding Opposition MPs that the EOC, under the chairmanship of Prof John La Guerre, was appointed under the PNM, Persad-Bissessar said with respect to one scholarship applicant there was a letter from Manning to Yuille-Williams in which Manning asked her to “please handle this quietly.” 

Claiming that Rowley’s objection to a $50 million allocation in the Budget to the Office of the Attorney General for forensic investigations was because the PNM did not want any probe to take place, Persad-Bissessar  said she has instructed Attorney

General Anand Ramlogan to launch a forensic audit into this programme. In addition, the Prime Minister said this matter will also be referred to the DPP and the Integrity Commission.

After challenging any PNM MP to prove that the EOC’s findings were wrong, Persad-Bissessar startled Government MPs when she said the ethnic distribution of the scholarships was seven percent East Indian and 93 percent non-Indian. 11 percent of the

scholarships went to persons in Rowley’s Diego Martin West constituency,

Noting that last Friday October 14, Manning dared Government to “lock him up” and Hart as well, Persad-Bissessar reminded him that he once told former Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday that “jail ent nice.” 

She then announced that on October 14, the board of Udecott “authorised the commencement of legal action” against Hart “for fraud, negligence and breach of statutory duty” with respect to the award of a $368 million contract to Sunway Construction Company for not revealing his family ties to that company. 

On June 12 that the Attorney General disclosed he would pursue civil action against Hart. Persad-Bissessar said civil action will also be taken against Hart with respect to the award of packages to Hafeez Karamath Ltd for the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba.