Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday defended his Government’s choices for State boards and the actions of those new boards.
An exclusive in yesterday’s T&T Guardian reported disquiet at Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) over the decision of new chairman Noel Garcia to appoint an interim CEO on his own, without advertising for the position.
At a couple of stops at talk radio studio for extended interviews, Rowley sought to downplay criticism that the Government was filling key state boards with its placements, was moving too aggressively to remove key executives appointed by the previous government, or worse, that it could unsettle the state sector.
He alternately defended the new boards as acting after gathering facts to which he was not necessarily privy, or punching back against disgruntled heads, like HDC’s Jearlean John, who have been affected by the actions of the new boards.
Rowley yesterday gave his support to the newly-installed chairmen, praising Udecott’s Noel Garcia and Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago’s (TSTT) Emile Elias. He said both were “very good at managing difficult situations.
He also discussed the shake-ups at two key State operations, the clash with the Central Bank Governor and the Minister of Energy using her office to solicit funds for a constituency pageant.
Rowley also confirmed that the Revenue Authority would be enforced by next year and the revised land and building taxes also would be implemented by January 1. That tax, he said, could bring in some $270 million a year which could help fund and maintain local hospitals.
Rubbishes claims of malpractice under his watch
At his second stop at i95.5 Rowley dismissed the statements made by his successor at the Ministry of Housing, Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde, back in 2007.
“I will simply ignore that and if I wanted to be unkind, I would say which stone you overturned to find that one,” Rowley said.
He was referring to last Sunday’s lead article in the Sunday Guardian in which Dick-Forde was quoted as saying she inherited inappropriate practices when she took over the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) from Rowley.
Rowley told the talk show hosts — Dale Enoch, Natalee Legore and Jabari Fraser — that he was aware of the challenges at the State enterprises.
“These are major public sector agencies, spending billions of dollars and incurring significant expenses for taxpayers,” Rowley said.
He dismissed calls from suspended HDC managing director, Jearlean John, to expand the ongoing audit to include the years before she took office in 2009.
“That I will ignore. If an audit was required and you were the managing director for five-plus years yet it wasn’t done,” he said.
Rowley also said he was not going to second guess the board at HDC, Udecott or at the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), where businessman Emile Elias was appointed as chairman.
Rowley said he was “very pleased” when attorney Gerry Brooks agreed to chair the National Gas Company (NGC).
The Government also installed a former United National Congress member, Shaheed Hosein, to the head National Petroleum, something Rowley suggested showed the Government intended to operate outside of politics.
“He added: What we want is to get the best talent available to run the country’s affairs.
“Noel Garcia managed the HDC during a period of record-breaking performance in terms of the objectives which was to build as many houses as possible.
“The Cabinet is very confident in Noel Garcia at Udecott and one of the best to handle that kind of arrangement at Udecott.
With regards to HDC, Rowley again lauded chairman Newman George.
“If he agreed to head the HDC, I am very lucky,” he said.
Elias, Rowley said, was also capable of managing the reduced market share and other challenges at TSTT.
“I had no idea that TSTT had lost so much ground and the question is what happened at TSTT. It is not getting any better, it is getting worse,” he added.
Rowley described TSTT as “under-performing” and said he was surprised to learn that the company hoped to leverage the Government’s shareholding in it for capital to increase and improve its technology to make it more competitive.
“That has me disturbed. A company that had 100 per cent of the market, where profits had been so huge, how did you end up in this position?” he asked.
“Clearly you need someone with a strong business background,” he said of Elias.
Refuses to give an inch to Jwala
Rowley evaded questions about the continued tenure of Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran. Asked directly if he had any confidence in Rambarran, Rowley sidestepped.
“I ought to have confidence in the Central Bank Governor,” he said.
When pressed, Rowley said he deferred to Minister of Finance Colm Imbert on the question, in a striking refusal to give Rambarran even slight hope on where he stood with the Government.
He said it was for Imbert to determine whether he had any confidence in Rambarran and said while Imbert had spoken to him about the Governor, “those conversations were not for public consumption.
“If there is a problem with the Governor of the Central Bank, the Government will not be afraid to take the appropriate action,” he said.
Rambarran last month announced to the public that T&T was in a recession. It caused barely concealed anger in the Government which said he had bypassed the proper line of communication to the Minister of Finance.
He is also facing a possible legal challenge from the Massy conglomerate for revealing that company to be among the country’s biggest consumers of foreign exchange.
Rowley and his Government had since been hesitant to accept Rambarran’s claim that the country was in fact in a recession.
“We haven’t seen the numbers,” the Prime Minister said.
Rowley said he would not be surprised if the country was indeed in a recession but there could be no certainty without the figures.
“It is unacceptable that we do not have those numbers. The CSO (Central Statistical Office) has not functioned for years,” Rowley said.
Privately scolds Minister of Energy
The Prime Minister said he spoke with Energy Minister, Nicole Olivierre, about what looked to have been a probable breach of ethics. Olivierre’s office allegedly solicited funds from agencies under her control for a beauty pageant in her La Brea constituency.
Rowley said he met with her early on Tuesday morning to discuss the reports.
“Action has already been taken and as the leader of Cabinet, I had a frank discussion with the minister,” he said.
Rowley, in carefully chosen words, said Olivierre now understood that “development was not the wisest.”
He dismissed the idea that Olivierre deserved official sanction and refused to compare her situation with that of former People’s Partnership minister Mary King, who was fired by then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for allowing her husband’s company to obtain a contract under her ministry.
“The minister’s judgment brought the minister too close to the operations, I think,” he said.
No pre-Christmas address to nation
The Prime Minister also announced that he would be making his address to the nation, planned for yesterday, in the new year. Imbert had said Rowley would be giving the nation a “reality check”. That sobering message will not now take place after the Christmas holidays.