Rowley's sacking unjustified
There is a growing awareness among many that Dr Rowley was dismissed in very questionable circumstances.
It was given to the public by PM Manning that Rowley was guilty of misconduct of a nature and/or degree that his sacking from the Cabinet was warranted and that no other alternative was available. These were not Manning's words but what I extract having studied the matter from 24th April 2008 - based on media reports.
The public and Dr Rowley are confused by PM Manning's actions. So far no one seems to know what was the offending conduct that Rowley was guilty off. The matter seems to be very hush-hush.
The situation is rather similar to Ken Valley's removal in Nov 2007.
Is the PM accountable to the people? Can Rowley take legal action against the PM for breach of some Constitutional principle? What will happen next? What do others think?
...Ever since the last time this topic (UDECOTT) was debated in Parliament, Manning offered the Commission of Enquiry (COE) as a temporary ploy to stall for time to dip into his bag of tricks,(in his back-pocket) and distract the people from UDECOTT...!
...well it sure backfired big time on him...just like the snake oil salesman running out of snake oil...sneaking out in the middle of the night before he got lynched in the old wild west frontier country...for peddling lotions and potions that did not work and/or for making empty and hollow promises that could not be fulfilled...!
...even his veiled threat to investigate the entire construction industry; who asked for that, Rowley? all the man said wanted was to delve into the internal workings of UDECOTT, thats all, thats where he said the problem was, and that's what he wanted exposed...thats what he wanted the people to know about, the workings of UDECOTT and Calder Hart, not the whole bloody construction industry of T&T...!
...but as all the walls of Jerico keeps tumbling down piece by piece and in a hurry from every which way...Manning realized he don't know where to "duck and run" and hide anymore...suddenly, he have all these trips away in far places that have little to do with Trinidad & Tobago...in fact, he was last reported today to be in Washington to meet the advisors of U.S Presidential Candidate McCain....well yes, Manning must be so important, the whole world revolves around him, and god help us all, McCain must be told this personally...!
.....but Rowley on a roll right now, and the more the rothweiller barks, and the more time passes, the more frightened Manning and the PNM getting as more and more skeletons keep popping out of the closet and into plain view in broad daylight, and as you know Frankenstein Manning don't like it one bit, daylight hurt his eyes and also shines on stuff thats hidden from public view, he rather all this stuff remain in the dark, including his new sidekick Mariano Browne...as well as his Cabinet and the other PNMites...!
...sometimes they say that patience is virtue, and that "time can be the great equaliser"...well its proving to be just that and more...as the longer Manning playing the waiting game, the more the ship keep sinking and very soon, the water will be well over his head and he can't swim to shore...!
...you see, first it was firing Rowley for the (60) sixty Rooms (Executive suites) in the Academy of Performing Arts, which Manning said was always in the cards, but Rowley said was not there and so did the EMA and CEC...it was not even on the plans filed with them...and UDECOTT say it was always displayed on their website...(take heed COE)...!
...then it was the (50) fifty Rooms (Presidential suites) at the Hilton Hotel which again Rowley said they were trying to slip under his nose and to which he said he became a "marked man" by Manning when he talked about it...the same ones which Mariano Browne said they were only "floating as ideas" and there was nothing to it, and Rowley was wrong about it...!
...you see, it seems like all the PNM talk about at Cabinet Meetings are "floating Hotel Rooms"...! Patrick Manning seems to have this obsession with Hotel Rooms...but...!
...we'll come to that yet...there is a powerful reason for it...just wait and see...there must be...!
...to be continued...! Trini.t.o.o
...You asked about the quietness and silence of the President Max Richards...well he gone fishing...he on holidays for the next fifteen days...and Montano acting for him,... Calder Hart out of de country, no mention where but dey all quiet like mouse in de barn...and de sneaky snake oil salesman Patrick Manning off the radar screen not to be heard of, not a "peep"...not since Hazel reminded we folks dat ..."the Prime Minister has spoken"...! and even Colm Imbert, the "running mouth piece" who pretend he knew everything....well he like a church mouse too, silent like a lamb...you not even hearing him at all...you can actually miss his "spin doctoring"...!
...so back to Max Richards...the President...well he packed up and left so he too can't be found...and now the "opposition" feeling betrayed that Patrick pulled a six for a nine on them with his announcement of the COE, and now he can't be found ....and Panday now saying that he sure he did not make a mistake...and the game continues...!
....as far as I could see, the people should kick Manning out of the country and take away his passport and not let him back in, not even if he begs..."persona non grata"...the man is a sad excuse for a pastor, and his word is as good as a "plugged nickle"...!
...Max Richards not far behind, he only going for the ride as long as Manning have he bread buttered, and he knows which side too...so he not staying around to be found...he just surviving as dey say...he good to go...!
...so don't expect much happening soon, either all the real players "outa de country" and can't be found...and dey all lying low waiting for the "noise to die down" and then sneak back in quietly so no one will notice...and "wait out the people", hoping that another news story will take up the headlines and everybody will forget about Calder Hart, UDECOTT, the Chinese Connection and the Billion Dollars of taxpayers monies thats dissappearing daily with nothing to show for it in return...! and the game continues...!
...maybe Preacher Manning gave them all a sermon...one about "wajang and hooligan" just like the one he gave about Rowley, and now they have all gone to hide in a corner with their tails between their legs, as the "master has spoken", and they too don't want to be fired like good ole Rowley, they don't want to get the good Pastor Manning mad at them too...!
...so its the people who have to keep up the pressure on their Member of Parliament and let them know they mean business, otherwise look like dey dogs dead...Patrick plan is to outfox them and to out-wait them ...but only if they let him get away with this kinda slackness...!
...as I said before, we Trinis just love Manning to insult us over and over again...but not this time...we have to keep on his tail, we waiting for the COE, till hell freezes over...we waiting for Manning, Hart, UDECOTT, the Chinese connection and the Commission of Enquiry...they can't hide forever...could they, only if we let them...but not this time...one time too many...???
goodluck...Trini.t.o.o
...Well boys, the "Sneaky Snake Oil Salesman" Manning is at it again...the ongoing Saga of UDeCOTT, Hart and his brother-in-laws et al...that is...!
...the much Government touted JSC and the opposition and public demand for a "Commission of Enquiry" (COE)...!
...and all the while even as Colm Imbert (Mr.Know it all) espousing the multitude of benefits of the JSC for both the Opposition MP's as well as for the public, and the A-G, Brigid Anisette-George also vigorously defending the virtues of the JSC on behalf of the Government, and then the Prime Minister himself spending all of 70 minutes extolling the "superior-ity" of the JSC...!
...and just when Ramesh offered his investigator's findings on the UdeCOTT/Hart/Sunway and the in-laws(Chinese/Malayasian connections) thought they threw Manning the knock out punch and he was leaning on the ropes, ready to hit the canvass, he just staggered right back into the ring with a surprise...!
...in come the "sneaky snake oil salesman" to spoil all their fun and pull straight out of his back pocket in a "vaps", and to everyone's surprise, a Commission of Enquiry,(COE), just like they have been clammering for, and even throw in a Chairman of the Commission as a "bonus" and for good measure, knowing full well that just the name of Gordon Deane (former Integrity Commissioner) will piss them off royally, especially Rowley, which it did...and threw them all off their collective feet...!
...and as a "lagniappe" he tossed in the whole construction industry in good ole T&T along with it and for scrutiny of every kind and reasons you could think of from A to Z, that any COE worth their salt will take well past 2050 to complete their work and file their "so called Report" well before 2100 with a bit of luck...!
...yes, guys, the "sneaky snake oil salesman Manning" is right on top of his game...conniving as always...always coming up with a "scheme of some kind or the other..."!
...so now with the Chairman Gordon Deane decling the invitation to chair the COE, and Manning saying he declined because of threats made to him, but people saying its not so, its otherwise and because of just plain "bias"from a prior review of the Rowley affair, and Imbert (Mr.Know it all) now saying he does not know when another Chairman will be appointed...! ...this is so strange coming from him, since he always have all the answers...on everything...but not this time...??? So its more "stone walling" again...???
...and now in the meantime we keep getting more and more news about this "Sunway Carribean Construction Limited" which was awarded a $368 million dollars contract and how its tied in to Hart and his relatives, amongst other things...!
...and then a quick look on the website you could easily find under "Sunway Holdings Incorporated Berhad ("SUNWAY") a reference No SH-071004-15E9B dated Oct.4/07 - A Quarry Agreement between Sunway Construction (Carribbean) Limited a wholly owned subsidiary of Sunway Construction SDN BHD and NATIONAL QUARRIES COMPANY LIMITED, (NQCL) a Company owned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for the purposes of quarry products for government projects in Trinidad...!
...so its passing strange when there is all this hue and cry about these multi million dollar contracts being signed and handed out without the benefit of public tender, when there are so many contracts and give away of the resources of T&T, when one could look at the "Quarry Agreement" and its terms and wonder why we as Trinis have to approach a "foreign company" -SUNWAY CONSTRUCTION to buy our aggregates for building both buildings and roads, when everyone including Manning, all talking about the rising prices of "construction materials", steel and aggregates, on reading this agreement you could easily see why the prices keep rising in Trinidad and Tobago, as they are all for the benefit of SUNWAY and its shareholders...! ...read the agreement...its right there in black and white...but why is it a "secret, a government secret...??? Inflation is not a secret though, and now you could see why...the Chinese Connection are not complaining, everything wrapped up tight, and Manning knows this well enough...! so just wait for the COE...!
...this is another trick in Manning's book, all this mamaguy and delaying...all the while the "shredding machine working overtime" and just like "watergate" the "evidence disappearing" while we waiting for the so called COE to be set up, not forgetting the onerus and exhaustingly long list of the mandate, to enquire into all of the construction industry, practice and procedure in T&T, oh and by the way, while you're at it, could you all take a quick look at how UDECOTT handles contracts and see if it fits in with international standards...not a real priority here...if you get the chance while you're looking into the T&T contractors and their shenanigans...what a real joke...by Manning ...what a laugh...he ain't fooling nobody...!
...so lets get the show on the road, if you have nothing to hide Manning, then why are you so afraid to really look into the operations of UDECOTT and Calder Hart...why, what does he hold over you...must be something very important...like the tables turn and now the "tail now wagging the dog" and you don't know where and how far to run, just like how Hart run from Saskatchewan, Canada...Manning making friends in places in Africa, a place to hide...???
...so yes guys, the saga continues...the Manning, Hart, UDECOTT, SUNWAY and the chinese connection saga continues...big buildings, big money, big bobol, everything big, big, big...?
...now all we have to do is wait and see, it so darn big, it can't hide anywhere anymore, it too bloody big to hide, it can't be covered up anymore...its here...!
good luck, and I as I said before, patience my friends...patience...trini.t.o.o
...
This agreement in my view, as posted on the internet website, will definitely come into focus and become an integral part of the COE's review as they delve into the workings of Sunway, Calder Hart, his in-laws and the Government of Trinidad & Tobago and its minister's activities into the signing of this particular agreement...and who else knows what? Time and foot dragging on the part of the government won't help unless the people fall for the "snake oil salesman " routine again, but we'll see yet...!
Here it is in quotations as found on the internet website:
"...SUNWAY HOLDINGS INCORPORATED BERHAD ("SUNWAY")
- QUARRY AGREEMENT BETWEEN SUNWAY CONSTRUCTION (CARIBBEAN) LIMITED, A WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF SUNWAY CONSTRUCTION SDN BHD, WHICH IN TURN IS A WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF SUNWAY AND NATIONAL QUARRIES COMPANY LIMITED 1. INTRODUCTION
We wish to inform the Exchange that Sunway Construction (Caribbean) Limited ("Sunway CC"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sunway, had on 3 October 2007, entered into a Quarry Agreement with the National Quarries Company Limited ("NQCL"), a company owned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for the purposes of producing quarry products for government projects in Trinidad.
2. INFORMATION ON SUNWAY CC AND NQCL
2.1 SUNWAY CC
Sunway CC is a company incorporated in Trinidad and Tobago and having its registered office at 118, Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad. The issued deposit on shares and issued ordinary shares of Sunway CC are TT$10,000 (US$1,599) and TT$3 (US$0.48) respectively. The principal activities of Sunway CC are civil and building construction, quarrying, manufacture and trading of building materials.
2.2 NQCL
NQCL is a company owned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and having its registered office at Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Arouca, Trinidad. The issued deposit on shares and issued ordinary shares of NQCL are TT$26,427,000 (US$4,225,677) and TT$2,480,000 (US$396,552) respectively The principal activities of NQCL are quarrying, mining, extraction, processing and sale of aggregates.
3. INFORMATION ON TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago lies in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the South American nation of Venezuela. It is an industrialized country whose economy is based on petroleum and petrochemicals. The country is the 5th largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the world ("LNG"). It has become the leading exporter of LNG to the United States, and now supplies some 70% of U.S. LNG imports.
The following are some basic economic statistics for Trinidad and Tobago:-
GDP 2006: U.S.$18.14 billion (market prices).
Annual growth rate: 8% (2005), 12% (2006 preliminary).
Per capita income: U.S. $13,978.
Standard & Poor’s Rating; A-
(Source: US Dept of State website)
4. SALIENT TERMS OF THE QUARRY AGREEMENT
The Quarry Agreement was entered into for the purposes of producing quarry products for government projects in Trinidad for a period of 5 years, with an option to renew for a further period of 5 years. Among the salient terms of the Agreement are:-
i) NQCL shall guarantee the purchase of 5 million metric tons of aggregates for the initial 5 year term from Sunway CC at pre-determined prices.
ii) NQCL shall reimburse Sunway CC for any price increase in diesel above the current price of TT$1.30 (US$0.21) per litre for use of diesel by any equipment utilised at the quarry
5. RATIONALE
The Sunway Group presently operates 7 quarries in Malaysia and 2 quarries in Vietnam. The Quarry Agreement enables the Group to further expand its overseas quarry operations in line with its strategy of expanding into foreign countries in businesses where it possesses core competencies. The Group brings to the Trinidad quarry its technical expertise and experience in quarry operations which has enabled it to be one of the lowest cost and most efficient quarry operators.
6. EFFECTS OF THE QUARRY AGREEMENT
6.1 On Share Capital and Substantial Shareholders’ Shareholdings
There will be no effect on the share capital and substantial shareholders’ shareholdings of Sunway as the Quarry Agreement does not involve any allotment or issuance of new shares by Sunway.
6.2 On Earnings Per Share and Net Assets Per Share
The Quarry Agreement is not expected to have any immediate material effect on the earnings per share and net assets per share of Sunway for the financial year ending 30 June 2008 but is expected to contribute positively to the future earnings of Sunway Group.
7. APPROVALS REQUIRED
The Quarry Agreement does not require the approval of shareholders of Sunway or any relevant authorities.
8. DIRECTORS' AND MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS' INTERESTS
Insofar as the directors are aware, none of the directors or major shareholders of Sunway or persons connected with them has any interest, direct or indirect, in the Quarry Agreement.
9. STATEMENT BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board of Directors of Sunway is of the opinion that the Quarry Agreement is in the best interest of Sunway Group.
This announcement is dated 4 October 2007."
goodluck and good reading...Trini.t.o.o
Boy, yuh hit dee nail on dee head. Buh some a dem fellas eh understan' whuh going orn. Yuh right is massive shreddin' goin' orn. Dah COE finding F*-all.
And when forensics go in dey finding a very clean professionally wiped hard-drives. So all how dee whole t'ing is a mamagism tuh rass. Yuh t'ink is like in fus worl' countries whey dey have MI5 and FBI etc doing high powered sting operations corporate shredding. Nah - dey eh want dem kinda t'ing dong dey. Dee less accountability dee betta - yeah now a remember.
And boy yuh eh find Max Richards quiet, boy? How dee man so quiet in dee backgrong. Ah mean is there any moral authority in T&T? Well ah know dee answer tuh dat.
Yuh see me - I will continue to rub dey noses in it. Dey gettin' it in dee ass now - and dey groanin'. Dey better doh look tuh me, because I go only turn up dee pressha hose in dey ass.
Doctor, His Imperial Highness, Emperor Patrick Mugabe has embarked on the next phase in his quest to consolidate power and has "weeded out" yet another potential threat to his dictatorial ambitions by firing Dr. Rowley. Surely this must raise questions and sound alarm bells.
Questions of transparency and accountability, questions, like those raised by Mary King as to who informs policy, the direction and allocation of this country's resources. Simply put, the question is who benefits from all the megaprojects upon which the Patrick Panning administration has embarked? Is it those big-shot lobbyists and one-hundred-thousand-dollar-a-plate businessmen who lurk on the fringes of this administration?
What about all those so-called "private" or "semi-state companies" into which public money is pumped, companies which skirt the law to avoid scrutiny on how our money is being spent, UTT and Caribbean Airlines even. Clearly the beneficiaries of this Patrick Manning regime are not to be found among the common man, the small man - THE POOR MAN.
Rowley might be standing at the tip of this iceberg. Trinidad and Tobago is being steered towards this iceberg and a collision of Titanic proportions. I pray that the ship of state does not suffer that same fate as that doomed vessel.
This, my friends is food for thought, the only food some of us may yet afford.
Lawrence Jittansingh
Arouca
It is rather unfortunate that the predicitions made by many of us at Freedom Chambers pre-election are now coming through.
Small-mindedness among UNC and COP supporters led to each group slinging blame at the other for the PNM victory. These were acts of utter stupidity, because each party has a Constitutional right to contest and election. The issue of course was that each ruling party in T&T, when in power, failed to introduced proportional represenatation - similar seen over here in the UK. So their harvest is what they deserved.
A people divided by tribal loyalties and race will forever be oppressed and ruled. So-called Indians in T&T hope that Panday and Ramesh will take them to the promised land. So-called Africans hope the PNM will deliver the land of milk and honey. COP people are in the middle.
Ramesh prepares for a spot election, which is not a bad idea.
There are those (sympathetic to the UNC) who would accuse the COP of splitting the vote, of being spoilers in the last General Election of 2007. To them I say this:
Might it not be that those that voted COP would not have voted UNC anyway, that if COP did not come into being some of those votes would have gone directly to the PNM and others would not have even bothered to vote?
To say therefore that the COP split the vote, well, might be at most speculative for I see for this assertion no basis in fact, as no exit polls were done to support that claim.
Let me here say that there are still some who see their right to vote as an individual choice, who will not allow themselves to be swayed by the direction taken any support base.
Those that willingly submit themselves to be drawn along in a particular sway, be it because of fashion or perceived popularity, in defiance of their own inner guidance are not leaders. They might be better described as followers; followers who value being part of the crowd over being counted as being Individual.
According to C.G. Jung, the Individual is un-divided and has achieved wholeness of self, having reconciled conflicts in his inner life. He is now guided by the Inner Voice and not by external forces, not even crowds and does not see himself as part of the herd. Such a person who has attained Individuality who has attained a state of un-dividedness is thus now seen to be a leader, with a clear direction and purpose.
The Individual, one who values his own inner voice, even though he prefers not to part of the crowd now finds himself at the center of the crowd that begins to assemble around him.
The leader must be prepared to step back, away from the herd and the instinctive tribalism upon which it feeds. That is what defines the leader. All that voted conscience in that last General Election - in my eyes - are leaders, as following, for them, was not an option.
Perhaps Rienzi needs to examine more the philosophy of C.G. Jung and relegate that of Machiavelli to the background.
...The whole meeting thing looks and sounds like a set up "sting operation" to trap Rowley...as more news evolve out of this whole fiasco...what do we know so far???
...April 14, 2008 the day of the meeting, Manning was away in Mexico...(fact) was this intentional?...
...Calder Hart was at that meeting...(fact) why? what was the purpose? to get clearance for the 60 room hotel? or was it to get more money???...In the absence of Manning?...
...it has been widely reported in various media sources that Calder Hart does not "answer" to anyone other than the Prime Minister himself, so why would he have gone there if Patrick was not there???
...was he invited there by cabinet members or did he invite himself there for some other purpose...?
...Lenny Saith chaired the meeting...(fact)...
...who were the "other cabinet members" at that meeting???...(to be verified)...?
...Hazel Manning was there...(fact)
..."fast fingers" cheque writer, Mariano Browne was there ...(fact), remember the man who wrote up the cheque for the Chairman of CA back in February 28th based on a plan written on a "wet napkin" on the 27th and presented to him? and he could not even remember how much the cheque was for - U.S $53 million or U.S $63 million, just like he writing them cheques from "he fadder account", not the people's money???thats the guy, yes???
...so who else was there to be offended by Rowley's remarks and five minute tirade...?
...those who know or have that information, please fill in the blanks...!
...next question...all this week Lenny Saith keep saying that what happened in that meeting is "SECRET" and stamped secret and cannot be revealed because of the "oath of secracy" they all took as Cabinet Ministers...right???
...so what was Calder Hart doing in there in the presence of "top secret" government documents, and why or what was the nature of these discussions in his presence...? When did he "take an oath" to be privy to these documents which Lenny Saith keep saying he can't discuss with the public or the press???
...at least Rowley asked all non-government officials to leave the room to discuss his concerns about the 60 Room hotel which they all seemed not to know anything about before that day...that is the correct approach in dealing with priviledged information and government secret documents...so what was Lenny Saith doing as Charman of the meeting having Calder Hart in the presence of these documents???
...this seems like a set up to me, purposely done to "trap" Rowley, and it worked, except for Eden Shand showing up with the plans without the HOTEL, Manning insisting it was always in the cards and UdeCOTT now saying it was always in the cards, it was on their "website" and "brochures" about the "60 room hotel", except it is still not on the plans filed by UDECOTT to date... (fact)...!
...now come the bright news...this performing Art Centre will fall under the ambit of UTT, of whom Julien lost over $100 million of our money and the Finance Minister now saying that an "audit of 2004/2005, 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 Financials is now going to be started...to get finished in 2012 after the next general election>>>?
...this is wastage or pilfering of taxpayers monies galore... in fact just this week they have now admitted that Julien's salary & perks runs over $100,000 per month...but who's counting???right?
....more to come -what about the trip to China by Lenny Saith, Calder Hart and his wife Sherrine...???! what for??? where was Rowley? and why was he not there?
...what were they doing there and what was the purpose??? and what about the U.S $100 million loan from CHINA, to do what? who and what is this all about???...more money to get lost in the shuffle and pilfering???...they'll bankrupt Trinidad and Tobago by the time they are through...? well into the next future generations...!
...no accountability, who is responsible for all this??? Manning?..., Hart?...and more???
...my feeling is that Manning was conveniently absent from this meeting for a purpose>>>!
...just wait ans see...lots more to come out in the open yet...dey cyar hide all this...its just too much to hide now...!
...goodluck...Trini.t.o.o