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Trinidad and Tobago: Waste water treatment plant in Trinidad

2014/03/15

The major opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) is calling on President Anthony Carmona to intervene and possibly stop a multi-billion dollar arrangement being awarded to a company for a waste water treatment plant on the outskirts of the capital.

“If the President is to be authentic to his commitment to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, he must ask the Government for an explanation about this development. I am calling on the Government to stop the award of this arrangement,” said PNM and Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley.

He told a news conference that the award of the bllion-dollar arrangement to Super Industrial Services (SIS) for the Beetham Wastewater Treatment Plant by National-owned National Gas Company (NGC) was made even though SIS’s bid was TT$400 million (One TT dollar =US0.16 cents) additional than the other bidder on the project.

“This is preparation and execution by way of the rape of the Treasury,” Rowley said.

The project involves the building of a plant to treat polluted water to make it usable at the Point Lisas industrial site, south of here.

Rowley told reporters that the bidding process was conducted “to drive away” 14 out 16 contractors, inclunding world renowned companies that were interested in submitting tenders.

Rowley said during the Carnival celebrations here NGC advised the other bidder by letter dated February 27, that it had failed in its submission for the project.

“And this was the intention all along. We presently have to conclude that the preferred bidder is SIS … which has grown like a cat in the last four years,” he said, insisting that SIS\\s bid was $400 million additional than the other bidder.

Rowley said he wanted to know what were the significant variations in the two bids that led to the difference in the bid price, telling reporters it was a classic case of bid- rigging

He said the recent trip to China by Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar was as well designed to obtain an “emergency loan” of TT$5 billion in time to execute projects by March 2015 to coincide with the 2015 election campaign.

“This is the feeding trough where the Government expects to fund its election campaign with a profligacy at no time before seen in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360.

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