Former minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday called on Government to prevent the ’latest outrage’ by UDeCOTT, stating that if the Cabinet took no action to forestall the undermining and the derailment of the Commission of Enquiry by UDeCOTT, it would stand condemned as being part of the move.

Rowley was commenting on the filing of judicial review by UDeCOTT, which if successful, would permanently shut down the Commission of Enquiry and make impossible the presentation of a report.

UDeCOTT is challenging the validity of the Commission on the basis of the non-gazetting of the Commission during the entire period of its hearings, the non-passage of the Validation Act, the bias of former commissioner Israel Khan and current commissioner Kenneth Sirju as well as the ’favourable treatment’ given to the testimony of Carl Khan.

Said Rowley: ’Lawyers don’t instruct themselves. They act on the instructions of their clients who pay them. To the extent that UDeCOTT lawyers are now seen to be acting at variance with the wishes of the population and in direct defiance of the President and the Cabinet, they are doing so on the instructions of UDeCOTT’s managers, who appear to be bent on protecting themselves from scrutiny.’

Noting that the ’kernel’ of this enquiry had to do with the role of the minister in directing a State enterprise, Rowley said: ’It has full circle where this State Enterprise in contravention of the stated public policy emanating from the Cabinet and the President, is taking a diametrically opposed position. The Attorney General by way of a statement in Parliament, said how Government intended to deal with the non-gazetting of the Commission’.

Rowley said the public expected the office of the AG to ’keep its word to the Parliament’.

’If the Cabinet has taken a position that the Commission of Enquiry should not be derailed, should not the Cabinet or the Minister with portfolio responsibility, instruct UDeCOTT to cease and desist from this very expensive exercise? Not to mention that the outcome of this court proceeding is to do the opposite of what the Government says it wants to achieve, ’ he said. 

’And this brings us to the point: Can a State enterprise go off on its own and do what it pleases with the public assets and the public monies? And the Government and the minister with portfolio responsibility be impotent in dealing with this enterprise? UDeCOTT is proving that a rogue State enterprise can and will exist once Government is amenable to that happening,’ Rowley said.

He said Government could fix this ’today’ by simply removing Calder Hart. 

’But UDeCOTT feels so strong, so bold that they can publicly contradict the Government, confront the President, confront the Parliament, embarrass the Attorney General, it feels so omnipotent and this is the key to the whole thing. And this did not start with the Commission of Enquiry,’ Rowley said.

’As long as officials of UDeCOTT continue to see and hear senior members of the Cabinet defending their alleged bid-rigging and showering praise on their waste, they will feel emboldened to carry out this outrage at great expense to the very taxpayers who want the Enquiry to proceed, make findings and identify failures in accountability,’ Rowley said.

’UDeCOTT has been described by me and others as a rogue State enterprise. If there was any doubt about that description, this is proof,’ Rowley said.

Rowley said he had on more than one occasion called on the Prime Minister to remove UDeCOTT boss Calder Hart ’and his cronies’ from the affairs of the State agency.

He renewed this call yesterday. 

’I belong to a political party which has sent individuals to serve at the level of government. I hope the party is looking on and is duly concerned about the detrimental label that is being placed on the party, as a result of the actions and inaction of persons who represent  the party at the level of government. Because while the Government is temporary, the party ought to be permanent. And any indelible stain put on the party by any action of the Government, would be contrary to the principles of the party and would be there for generations’, Rowley said.