…by the National Maintenance Training and Security Co. Ltd. (MTS) which led to the establishment of two separate investigations namely, an enquiry undertaken by the then Minister of Finance, Mr. Gerald Yetming and an investigation undertaken by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which recommended that the Biche High School be abandoned as “unfit for occupancy”. This led in 2002 to the establishment of the Biche Commission of Enquiry which found that there was a consistent disregard for the highest standards of prudence and care and a marked unwillingness to be proactive in respect of the construction of the school”

For the purpose of that Enquiry the JCC undertook the task of gathering facts, evaluating and safeguarding information and documents, analyzing the procurement practices used for the award of contracts to consultants and contractors and selected and documented the role of persons and companies involved. After expressing its concerns to various Government officials which were ignored, on the 6th March, 1997 the JCC held a press conference and advised the nation of its concerns with the Piarco Project and publicly called for a cease in the departure from the original concept of the Central Tenders Board. The JCC increased media knowledge and public awareness of what went on with this project and took a firm stand on transparency in public procurement

…which set out a comprehensive history of the various incarnations of the Piarco Project under various governments and removed the corporate veil from the various incarnations of companies trying to obtain contracts. The corruption uncovered at Piarco has eroded public confidence in the integrity of Government, the construction industry and our procurement systems

…of United States law in respect of the Piarco Project. Through a mutual assistance treaty in criminal matters, the U.S. Justice Department and the Trinidad and Tobago Attorney General’s office cooperated and arrest warrants were issued against the suspects in the United States District Court for the Southern District in the matter of USA v Gutierrez, et al for defrauding the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. According to the Indictment filed in the United States, eight (8) of the defendants conspired to engage in wire fraud by rigging the bid process to secure construction contracts. In addition, the Indictment charged seven (7) of the defendants with conspiring to launder money received as a result of the fraud. According to the charges in the Indictment, the defendants participated in transferring money paid by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to one of the defendant corporations through a series of complex financial transactions designed to conceal the origin of the fraudulently obtained funds. There are pending trials in both jurisdictions. Two former government ministers, several businessmen and political party financiers have been charged with fraud in Trinidad. In the United States, eight individuals and two companies were indicted on conspiracy charges, including the lead architects for the project, contractors, suppliers, and two businessmen from Trinidad. Subsequently, the American defendants pleaded guilty to money laundering, bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. The U.S. State Department’s 2007 Country Report of Trinidad and Tobago’s record on Human Rights Practices stated that the courts continued to hear a case that implicated the most senior members of the 1995-2001 UNC government in embezzlement and bid-rigging on the Piarco Airport expansion project. At year’s end the corruption case against then Prime Minister Panday, charging that he had accepted a bribe that led his government to favour a contractor on the project, was still being heard in the courts. Two Trinidadian businessmen are still opposing their extradition to the United States to face the charges there.

…the main supplier of cement in the country, with respect to the increase in the price of cement and were able to convince TCL to keep its prices stable for a period of three (3) years.