THE Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago was fulsome in his praise last Wednesday, of the people and the organisations which delivered the completion of the prime International Waterfront Project in time. In time, that is, for the hosting of the pride-laden Fifth Summit of the Americas.

With an opening ceremony set for the afternoon of Friday April 17, and with several accompanying sessions scheduled to be taking place fully two days before the opening, much was riding on the completion and delivery of this facility.

Congratulations are indeed in order for all who have been involved in the project.

But once again, the Prime Minister offended against the public trust he has assumed, in ignoring the very real issues and concerns raised by highly public spirited interest groups and individuals.

’Those who complain about the use of special purpose corporations,’ the Prime Minister told his audience at the function on Wednesday, must remember that those agencies were 100 per cent owned by the people of Trinidad and Tobago.’

Not for one moment, however, has anyone challenged this matter of fact. Rather, it has been the manner of operations by several of these agencies, including the Urban Development Corporation (UDeCOTT) which built the Waterfront Project, that has come under such heavy scrutiny.

Questions were being raised about the alleged breaking of the rules, the outright refusal to be governed by the rules, about the refusal of the UDeCOTT leadership to submit to ministerial oversight.

The country witnessed the sacking of a senior Cabinet minister for nothing other than his insistence on raising red flags over this matter. It was, eventually, the Prime Minister who had to come reluctantly, very much against his will, to set up the Commission of Enquiry into the construction sector, because of the refusal of significant portions of that public opinion to let the issue be ignored.

And as if preparing for her boss to declare that the ends justify the means, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Planning, Housing and the Environment, offered the curious comment that the project was delivered ’despite criticisms and contradiction’.

Such conflict and contradiction, the minister must be reminded, had to do with legitimate concerns regarding whether or not tendering procedures had been followed, whether procurement practices were being honoured.

The minister is right, nevertheless, in allowing that what she recognises as ’conflict and contradiction’ will continue to be ’a necessary part of the experience on the road to Vision 2020.’

And so it should be because this is part of what makes for the vibrancy of the democracy we continue to seek to build here in Trinidad and Tobago.