Another chapter in the saga....
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Scrapping_OPV_deal_a_wrong_call-105578418.htmlScrapping OPV deal a wrong call
By Ria Taitt Political Editor"The Prime Minister is irresponsible, incompetent and she is under the direct control of persons with whom she is too familiar," Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley stated yesterday as he slammed Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her national security adviser, Gary Griffith, for the cancellation of the Offshore Patrol Vessels contract. He was speaking on a private motion in the House of Representatives, which asked the House to express its "deep disappointment and serious concern" over the Government's decision to scrap the purchase of the OPVs and to call on Government to do what was necessary to effectively secure the Trinidad and Tobago coastline.
Rowley said public decision-making was being based "not on clear judgment but on sound bites and other considerations such as political expediency and possibly worse (than that)".
He noted that while Minister of National Security John Sandy had told the media he was in favour of the acquisition of the vessels because they were key in the fight against crime, Griffith, who was the "first Government spokesperson" to address the OPV issue, was against the acquisition. "Clearly Griffith has more authority in the Cabinet than the Minister," Rowley said. The Opposition Leader said Griffith was a soldier "whose claim to fame was that he was sent to the Prime Minister house (during the Panday era) to be head of the household, in charge of pots, pans, gas and car and he got so familiar with the household that he became part of the household". Rowley said the Prime Minister's statements that the vessels were not needed because they were too slow, too big and that the war was not in the seas, but on the ground, were childish and showed a "complete misunderstanding of the assignment that she has to carry out".
"And on the basis of this misunderstanding she is open to being misled by a soldier who tells her what she should and shouldn't buy," he declared.
Rowley said while this Government was also talking about delays (as a cause for cancelling the contract), it had not told the population the issue of delays had been already dealt with by the previous administration.
Said Rowley: "A document was signed by BAE in April 2010 where the previous (PNM) government, realising that there were delays taking place, sought to enforce the contract, met with BAE, enforced the clause in the contract and agreed by negotiation on a figure of $20,000 per day in damages for delay and it came (up) to $61 million. "This (People's Partnership) Cabinet didn't do anything. That was done by April 2010 and we didn't only get six million pounds sterling under the clause of damages. We negotiated and got nine million pounds sterling, almost $100 million, and we took it in equipment, maintenance and training. So when you hear the Government talking about delays. "The lawyers (for BAE) are laughing because up until April, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago had dealt with the matter of delays. One month later, these uninformed, uninitiated persons (in the Government) believe that they could take back what was signed on April 20. What we are facing is lawyers going to court to argue that this matter was dealt with and there was a signed contract between BAE and Trinidad and Tobago which agreed on what would happen with respect to delays."
Noting that the Sultan of Brunei had unsuccessfully attempted to cancel a contract with BAE, Rowley said: "If we think that BAE would give us a pass, a bligh, especially since the Prime Minister has made the case for the BAE lawyers, I expect that if the Government cancels this contract, we would be heading for the courts and we wouldn't have many legs to stand on."
He said the Offshore Patrol Programme was an integral part of the country's development, as it was one of national security. He said recently he was speaking to a major captain of industry in energy who confirmed they had a concern about the country's ability to protect its assets offshore and for good reason. "We are now going farther and farther offshore to search for oil and gas. We have some of our major installations outside the 12-mile zone. The vessels we have in our hand now could hardly do a one-day patrol in those seas out there. We are going into the deep water in the bid round that is on the way, so very soon we would be going further out into the Atlantic Ocean," he said.
"If we are successful we would have installations out there. And what this Cabinet is saying to us is that our lifeline could be out there, but we are unable to purchase the equipment required in order to protect our heart valves."
The part where he talked about the delays already being dealt with by the previous administration was real interesting. I caught most of this on the Parliamnent Channel yesterday. Now I eh no fancy lawyer, and I eh want to seem like ah nitpicking, but common sense telling me Kamla goh regret this decision.