Hinds accused of being a dictator at Public Accounts Committee

A sitting of the Public Accounts Committee turned into a ‘tit for tat’ on Friday as Committee Member, Rudranath Indarsingh, accused the Chairman, Opposition Senator Fitzgerald Hinds, of being a dictator.

The Committee met with the Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL) to examine their accounts for the period 2008 to 2010.

EFCL Chairman Lester Applewhite explained that the Special Purpose Company was not a profit making entity but was responsible for the expenditure of millions of dollars from the Ministry of Education. 

It was then that Mr. Indarsingh first tried to intervene: I hearing about large sums and so on.
Mr. Hinds: Could you permit the Chairman…
Mr. Indarsingh: Are you saying I cannot intervene? I have a right to intervene. If you want to behave like a dictator here, tell me.

Mr. Indarsingh also accused Mr. Hinds of harassing the EFCL Directors with his line of questioning.

“Mr. Applewhite, in his capacity as EFCL Chairman is responding to you and I think you are badgering the Chairman, just like you are trying to badger members around this table here today.”

At times, even the EFCL Chairman became frustrated with the way the proceedings were going.

Mr. Applewhite said: “We are here to examine. If we examine profitability from 2008 to 2010, this should be a 10 minute meeting. It should be very short.”

Of particular interest to the Public Accounts Committee was the Couva West Secondary School which is overdue and over budget.

Committee Member, Mr. Colm Imbert, noted that the project that began in 2007 was originally scheduled to take three years for completion.

Mr. Imbert: So it took three years to do the first 80% and it has taken the last three years to do another 18%. That is my question and I want an explanation.
Mr. Applewhite: I repeat again, stoppages also from that period.
Mr. Imbert: No, no, no. We are dealing with simple Mathematics here Mr. Chairman, please.

Mr. Applwehite explained that the project was recently stopped because of overdue payments to contractors to the tune of over $20 million and he revealed that the main contracting firm was Broadway Properties Limited.

“I have met with one. I don’t know if he is the Chief Principal but it is Mr. Rahael of Broadway Properties Limited, Mr. Anthony Rahael.”

The EFCL will reappear before the Public Accounts Committee on July 16th.

C-News