The Puppet Uff Commission

Once again the debate about the Uff commission and the inquiry intensifies in the media and inside the parliament. Seriously, don't we have anything better than this to do? Looking carefully at this craze we see that there is something that does not smell right. Some powerful guys are using the Uff commission as a disguise to serve their political purposes, and maybe make some dirty money.

Once again we see an entity such as the commission stray away from objectivity and professionalism and allow itself to be driven by the political and material purposes of some bitter people in the opposition and of corrupt contractors who had lost great privileges as a result of the channeling of bids through the Urban Development corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT).

It is evident here that all the time the clamor is based on baseless allegations, not on facts. This as a result distracts the country from real issues and more importantly impedes the pace of construction and development in the country. We, the people, are the ones harmed most by such disruption of economic activity.

The allegations of the opposition and contractors do not change the fact that projects are being completed on time and within budget. Although there is a shy call to conduct a technical evaluation of projects by engineers -and this is something I encourage- this call faints before the highly politicized and unprofessional allegations.

Why do I think it's more about politics and money than honest professional objections? Commissioner Kenneth Sirju has suspicious, yet undeniable, ties with NH International Caribbean (NHIC), which Emily Elias runs. This company, as everyone with modest knowledge knows, lost a lot when bids began to be channeled through UDeCOTT. I do not blame the government for excluding NHIC. All the delays, corruption and inflated costs of the Scarborough Hospital project for instance makes it hard to imagine that a company like this is fit to deliver any good. In fact I am astonished by the contradictions in their talk. They claim they are fighting corruption while they are in bed with a corrupt company like NHIC-the Scarborough Hospital affair may only be the tip of the iceberg!

We must not forget either that Emily Elias himself was a major financier of the opposition-he does not deny this. Politics, not just money is what this is about. The Uff commission is being shamelessly exploited as a tool in this war.

We are entitled to know what good is this commission doing us? For years all we got has been the impediment of development and projects that could serve the people. Add to this all the time wasted in the parliament elsewhere on endless boring sessions; precious time that could have otherwise been used to solve real problems like crime.

Do we really need the commission? Imagine it didn't exist. What would we, the people on the street lose? Nothing!

I rejoice when I see a building rise. What really upsets me are those who always like to put the stick in the wheel. I wish we could just focus on building and give up the negative and pessimistic attitude. Like Robertson said in a recent article in the Guardian, we are a nation blessed with gas and oil but cursed with negativity.