HART RESIGNS
ALMOST two years after allegations of corruption were first made against him, Calder Hart yesterday resigned as the Udecott executive chairman and as the chairman of four other state boards he had been appointed to under Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s administration.
HART FIRED!
Rowley: Other board members must go
Following a call for his resignation by Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Urban Develepment Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) Executive Chairman Calder Hart resigned yesterday with immediate effect. In a statement issued yesterday Hart also announced that he had tendered his resignation with respect to all State boards to which he has been appointed including NIB, TTMF, NIPDEC and HMB.
UDECOTT head given 24 hours to resign
The executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) Calder Hart was given 24 hours to resign. The directive, Sunday Guardian learnt from a close relative, came from the hierarchy of the People’s National Movement (PNM).
Udecott failed case costs $7.5M
UDECOTT’s failed attempt to challenge the proceedings of the Uff Commission of Inquiry has cost taxpayers $7.5 million, legal sources close to the company yesterday estimated.
…Udecott executive chairman resigns
Rowley: It’s just the beginning
DIEGO MARTIN West MP Dr Keith Rowley, who was sacked from Cabinet in April 2008 after he raised questions about the management of the then Calder Hart-led Udecott, yesterday claimed vindication in the wake of Hart’s resignation.
Rowley: It’s not the end
“I don’t think this is the end of it. This is the end of the beginning.” These were the words of Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley last night, on hearing of the resignation, yesterday, of Calder Hart.
Rowley: Other board members must go too
Other members of the board must go, said Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley yesterday as he reacted to the resignation of Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) Chairman Calder Hart.
‘Govt should have complied with Speaker’s request’
Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley stated yesterday that the debate on (former) the UDeCOTT chairman Calder Hart affair on the House of Representatives on Friday should never have come down to the UNC vote.
Kamla calls for full-fledged probe
UNITED NATIONAL CONGRESS (UNC) Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday again called for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Commissioner of Police to launch an investigation into all allegations against Calder Hart, chairman of UDeCOTT.
…Kamla calls for forensic investigation
Ramesh urges more resignations
Hard on the heels of the resignation of Calder Hart, Tabaquite MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj is calling on Prime Minister Patrick Manning and the entire Udecott board to step down.
And now, the Uff report
It’s rare, if not unprecedented, for a commission of enquiry to have travelled the complicated route that the Uff Commission has, in conducting its investigations and compiling references for its report on the Trinidad and Tobago construction industry. The commission was assembled in 2008 with a mandate to investigate issues arising from the boom in local construction over the last ten years, with an emphasis on reviewing the methods being used to initiate large-scale construction contracts, the quality of delivery, and the transparency of the processes in use in Trinidad and Tobago. Along the way to the commission’s first sittings, other matters were tacked on to the inquiry process, most notably the review of the Cleaver Heights contract and delivery process.
Ramadar: Manning must resign
Deputy Political Leader of the Congress of the People Prakash Ramadar is now calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Patrick Manning. This follows the resignation of Udecott’s chairman Calder Hart yesterday. Ramadar, in a phone interview, said, “The Prime Minister must resign. He has protected Hart at the cost of having the country suffer the suspicions of corruption at the highest levels.” Ramadar also said Hart and his cohorts must be brought under the “full force of the law.” He added, “They must begin a criminal and forensic investigation into the workings of Udecott. (AL)
Judge dismisses Udecott case
Send Uff Report to Max
HIGH COURT judge Justice Mira Dean-Armorer yesterday shot down an attempt by Udecott lawyers to stop the Uff Commission of Inquiry from submitting a final report to President George Maxwell Richards.
Judge: Uff report can go to President
…despite ‘mistakes’; ‘negligent authoritarianism’ by chairman
UDeCOTT urges ‘fairness’ in final appeal to commissioners
Kamla betrayed
COUVA NORTH MP Basdeo Panday and Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath yesterday shocked the nation when they voted against their United National Congress (UNC) parliamentary colleagues on a motion which called Prime Minister Patrick Manning or Cabinet to fire Calder Hart as chairman of the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott).
Panday Saves Hart
Bas, Ramnath block UNC motion on UDeCOTT chairman
Bas, Ramnath scuttle House debate on Hart
“Political tabanca!” That’s how Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday dubbed the actions of her predecessor Basdeo Panday and Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath after both stymied Opposition efforts to obtain Parliamentary debate on UNC’s call for the removal of Udecott head Calder Hart.
Kamla: ‘Political tabanca’ behind senseless act
The ‘political tabanca’ of Basdeo Panday, still smarting from his comprehensive defeat at the UNC elections, was what was responsible for his actions in the Parliament yesterday.
No support from Panday, Ramnath
Kamla motion to remove Hart from State boards
Former Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday said yesterday that his successor, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, failed to consult with him, so he could not lend his support to her when she raised a motion which called for UDeCOTT chairman Calder Hart to be immediately removed from the various positions he holds.
…UNC, COP unite to fight ‘corruption’
Leaders of the United National Congress (UNC) and Congress of the People (COP) stood united yesterday, as they called for UDeCOTT chairman Calder Hart to be immediately fired and for there to be a probe into the cloud of corruption which hangs over the State enterprise.
Basdeo Panday have betrayed the people of T&T. He has shown his two faced, contrite, artificial attitude of what he stands for. I have long known that he always had an appetite for Power and concern.
This is the perfect holiday to change his name. As of today, I dub him “Judas Iscariot.” I hope the people of the land take heed and know that Panday has no concern for them and should treat him as such. He should be immediately be removed from his seat and out of the UNC.
Panday the spoiler
Basdeo Panday and Kelvin Ramnath found a way on Friday to call attention to their corner of the Opposition back bench, but stirred reactions of only bewilderment and irritation. The two MPs actually sat down to be counted with the Government side, thereby blocking a debate on the raging question of chairman Calder Hart’s alleged family links to the recipient of multi-million-dollar UDeCOTT contracts.
Panday must go
Residents from both Couva North and South constituencies yesterday expressed outrage over the failure of Basdeo Panday and Kelvin Ramnath to support the leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar in Parliament on Friday in her motion to have urgent matters pertaining to Udecott debated.
A search warrant should be issued immediately for all his properties and they must be siezed. His bank accounts, from which I am sure all assets are transferred abroad should be checked, and the bank officials who failed to inform the government of these massice transfers, should be indicted for conspiracy to defraud the people and government of TnT.The tactics of O’Halloran, Prevatt and the Panday era crooks should never happen again.
Hey the PNM got into office on this promise, they said that what happened in the Airport project must never happened again, they told their blind loyalists that the money stolen could have given them water, roads, hospitals etc etc, and the blind loyalists believed that, all they got was ten time worst than the airport. You want to say now that it should not happen, the only way that could not happen is when the voters say it must not happen and mean it, be loyal to none of these bandits, remove them at will, for the simplist of mess up, and definitely they would get the message, they can’t take us for granted. Am sure the educated amongst us would say I am dreaming, but I am very confident that once we remain loyal only to country and get rid of these bandits, every five years, we would transform even them into good poloticians