Former Educational Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) chairman Arnold Piggott has insisted he was not forced out from the organisation by the People’s National Movement (PNM) or by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as publicly perceived, but rather left on his own volition.
“I was not asked to resign despite what has been out in the public domain. There was absolutely no pressure placed on me to resign,” Piggott said as he appeared before yesterday’s Joint Select Committee in Parliament, where he cleared the air surrounding his departure from the EFCL.
He denied he was forced to follow instructions from Balisier House when the issue was put to him by Senator Wade Mark, who asked whether he was influenced by the PNM to resign from his position. He said his resignation was a “combination of a number of things,” including questions regarding contracts for school repairs and gross mismanagement by company officials.
“We were asked to reinstate Mr Louis Frederick (executive manager) after he had walked off the job. Had he returned the board would be handicapped and he did return after being requested to re-engage him and perhaps that should have been my last call,” Piggott cited as one of the reasons which led to his resignation.
Piggott, who also said he attended yesterday’s JSC’s meeting on his own accord, was in November threatened with a summons from the JSC after failing to attend a previous committee hearing.
But he made it clear yesterday that Parliament does not posses that power to summon him.
“I am appearing before this Joint Select Committee today voluntarily, notwithstanding the advice by senior counsel that the Parliament does not have the authority to summon me,” Piggott said, adding that he ought to receive “courtesy and respect which he deserved.”
In May this year, Piggott tendered his resignation from the EFCL, saying he was doing so for the “protection of my reputation and family name” and protecting the PNM.
In his resignation letter dated May 27 to Education Minister Anthony Garcia and copied to Rowley and corporation sole, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, Piggott said he had resigned “due to family commitments requiring greater attention at home and abroad.”
He cited that while he had the privilege to work closely with “a diligent, dedicated and professional team of board members,” they had gone through many challenges, including “reputational risks.”