‘Pontius Pilate’ and the Bridgemans Deals

‘Pontius Pilate’ and the Bridgemans Deals

Reporter - “Dr. Rowley, as head of the Cabinet and Government, are you convinced that something has drastically gone wrong and is crooked in this transaction?”

PM Rowley – “Yes”. “…. I said yes, my yes means a lot to me.”

The above interactions were part of a Government media conference in Tobago yesterday.

The Head of the Cabinet says there was something ‘crooked’ in the Bridgeman Cabo Star-Ocean Flower II or 2 procurement.

He went further to say, “Having committed ourselves to the Cabo Star and having committed to the Ocean Flower to solve these two ferry requirements, it had been coming to the Government’s attention, initially and largely from the media.”.

What was the Head of the Cabinet really saying about the procurement which was, in the final analysis, approved by the Cabinet on the recommendation of the line Minister – the Works and Transport Minister?

If he listened to himself, he would understand what he said was while this procurement was going on from the Board of the PATT (an agency of the Ministry appointed by the Cabinet) then to the Minister and then the Cabinet, the Government ONLY BECAME CONCERNED AFTER APPROVING THE DEAL BECAUSE OF MEDIA REPORTS!!

So, all along the way, NO ONE, the Board, the Minister or Cabinet had ANY CONCERN?! NO ONE ASKED A QUESTION?! THEY ALL BECAME CONCERNED AFTER THE FACT! Is this how procurement works??

A week ago, in an online post, I raised the question - “Why is the PROCUREMENT LEGISLATION REMAINING JUST PAPER while BIG CONTRACTS continue to be given out by this Government for infrastructure, boat and other service supply using flawed and non-transparent processes that are contrary to the LAW - the Procurement Legislation?” 

Instead of accounting to the people of this nation for the failure of the Board of PATT, the Minister and the Cabinet to ask questions and get full information BEFORE APPROVING THE DEAL, the PM went on to say – “…while the Cabinet approved the charter agreements of both vessels, he did not know who conducted the negotiations with Bridgemans Services Group”.

Was who conducted negotiations more important to the PM than knowing who Bridgemans Services Group was before approving the expenditure of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in a deal with a company the Minister told us he assumed was registered in this country because ‘it has Trinidad in its name”?

Like Pontius Pilate, the PM kicks the buck downstairs and is searching for “who conducted the negotiations”.

All the concepts of our inherited Westminster governance of Ministerial Responsibility, individually as Minister or collectively as Cabinet, are dumped and lowly functionaries at the Port Authority remain on suspension and the targets of investigations.

Once again Constitutional conventions are treated as irrelevant. Remember, rivers into streams etc.

I repeat the last statement of my post last week - What is also disingenuous is how a former CIVIL SERVANT was set up as Chairman of the PATT and functionaries are now being used as fall guys for PNM corruption.

It is a pity that rather than ACCOUNTABILITY BY MINISTER AND CABINET, we are getting the most unkindest cut of all being directed to lowly public employees.

Clyde Weatherhead

Tuesday, August 22, 2017