The term of the National Infrastructure Development Company’s (Nidco) board of directors has expired, leaving the protracted multi-million dollar Curepe Interchange Project stalled until next year.
The T&T Guardian also understands that the Nidco board held its final directors meeting on Thursday and it was only then that the outgoing board was apprised of the continuing stalemate between the negotiation committee and Lutchmeesingh Transport Contractors (LTC), the second ranked contractor for the overdue project. In a brief interview yesterday, Nidco president Dr Carson Charles confirmed the board term had ended without a decision on the interchange project.
The outgoing board was chaired by Krishendath Ramoutar while Prof. Winston Suite was deputy chair. Other former board directors included Mandavi Tiwary, Reneelise Khan, Hilda Goodial, Vanda Thomas-Lync, Ramzan Hosein, Rabindra Outar, David de Souza, Peter Ramadhar, Amrish Maharaj and Hollis Eversley.
Though there are several projects under Nidco’s remit, it is the Curepe Interchange Project that garnered the most attention after junior minister in the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Stacy Roopnarine, wrote to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on September 2 expressing concern that her boss, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, was involved in and influencing board level decisions with regards to contractor selection for the project.
Though Roopnarine later cleared the air, saying that the process of selection was only brought to her attention after her letter was made public, Rambachan has refused to comment on the issue to the media.
In a previous interview, Rambachan did not comment on whether he met with the board on September 2, 2014, but the T&T Guardian received a copy of board minutes labelled “6.4 Director’s meeting with Minister Surujrattan Rambachan.” That document stated that the chairman, Ramoutar, informed the board that Rambachan “invited” them to a meeting on September 2 “to discuss “several urgent project management and procurement issues.”
Charles also confirmed to the T&T Guardian that there were not going to be any further discussions with Vinci Construction on the Curepe Interchange project. He also confirmed that Vinci will not be considered for this project. “We cannot be in negotiations with one company and keep the door open with another. There is no way we can continue talks with Vinci,” Charles said.
History of interchange
In November 2012, with the Grand Bazaar project nearing completion, Nidco president Dr Carson Charles said he expected to proceed with the Curepe Interchange as soon as the Grand Bazaar Interchange was handed over. By October 2013, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar opened the Grand Bazaar Interchange and said then that the Curepe Interchange project was expected to begin by January 2014.