The conduct of former Port Authority of T&T (PATT) chairman Christine Sahadeo came under fire yesterday before a Joint Select Committee (JSC) seeking to unearth answers in the award of an 18-month contract to the Super Fast Galicia.
Speaking before the JSC chaired by Stephen Creese at the J. Hamilton Maurice Room, Tower D, Port-of-Spain, by People’s National Movement stalwart Ferdie Ferreira, who served as a director under Sahadeo’s stewardship, openly attacked Sahadeo’s stewardship and the manner in which she handled the extension of a contract for the Super Fast Galicia to operate on the sea bridge.
Asked by member Wade Mark if the former board had recommended the continuation of the Galicia on the sea bridge, Ferdinand admitted he was instrumental in getting rid of Bay Ferries, who were being paid US$7 million annually by PATT to manage the sea bridge service. Ferreira said he was so annoyed he took the matter to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to get Bay Ferries removed.
He said the one complaint they faced with the Galicia was that it could not berth where it was supposed to because the basin was filled with silt and had to be dredged, but Cabinet did not have money to undertake such an excise.
Ferreira said he subsequently discovered Cabinet did not approved the 18-month contract of the Galicia, which resulted in a month-to-month arrangement with its agent Intercontinental Limited.
In March, Ferreira said he was “informed by a very powerful person in the Government that they are going to have an emergency Cabinet meeting on Sunday and they were going to move the whole board.”
The same day, Ferreira said the other directors took the decision to collectively resign at 10.30 pm, which was unprecedented. In less than 24 hours, Ferreira said a new board was constituted.
“We were not even aware that the chairman, who speaks with authority, that the chairman resigned. We picked it up by the grapevine. The minister (Rohan Sinanan) said we submitted our resignations. We were constructively dismissed.”
Ferreira said he was also unaware as a director that Capt Alfred Mc Millan, of Magellan Maritime Services, was asked by Sahadeo to do an investigation into the Galicia and make recommendations outside of the tendering process.
“This is the background to the confusion.”
Ferreira said he wrote the “minister and Prime Minister about the questionable conduct of the chairman at board meetings. As a matter of fact, there is an incident in which incorrect minutes was sent to the minister initialled by the chairman.”
Mark asked Ferreira if he had any knowledge that the Galicia’s contract was riddled with corruption, to which he replied that they met the “contract there” on recommendations of the technocrats. He said the contract would have given the board enough time to examine all options.
“Where it fell down I am in no position to say.”
While maintaining the board did a lot of hard work, Sahadeo said some decisions took too long to be confirmed or made.
Mark drew to Sahadeo’s attention a letter dated June 7, 2016, addressed to former Works and Transport minister Fitzgerald Hinds, which was signed by acting T&T Inter-island company CEO Leon Grant and headlined “Conduct of Chairman.” Sahadeo insisted she was unaware of it, but maintained her board was “fractured” during her tenure.
Mark said Grant had asked Hinds to intervene and take action against Sahadeo, since he felt he was being denuded of his power to carry out his responsibilities.
“On one hand, in this letter, it is stated that at meetings held on March 16, 2016 and April 8, 2016 at the Ministry of Works and Transport, with regards to the replacement of a passenger cargo Roro vessel, management unanimously on both occasions recommended the renewal of the Super Fast Galicia ... in this same correspondence serious damaging allegations are made against the chairman in terms of your attempt to frustrate the efforts of the management…to the point that you are accused literally of hijacking the management of the operations of that organization,” Mark said.
Mark said a decision was taken to extend the life of the Galicia by 18 months, which was unanimously approved by management and the minister through his permanent secretary.
“Yet still, this letter is saying that the former chairman went behind the back of the management and had conversations aimed at frustrating the efforts of this decision. Now these are very serious matters. I’m asking the former chairman if she can clarify for the public record these serious allegations made in the letter of Mr Grant.”
Again, Sahadeo insisted she had not seen such a letter, nor was it brought to her attention by Hinds. She said she had a responsibility as chairman to deal with the procurement issue, adding there were grave errors which she had to intercede in and bring them to the new minister’s attention.
She said the board approved a certain specification and they were asked to approve tender for totally “different specifications.” Those specifications, Sahadeo said, would have cost T&T phenomenal amounts of money.