Chairman of the Commission of Enquiry into the Las Alturas housing project at Lady Young Road, Morvant, retired justice Mustapha Ibrahim, yesterday made it clear that contractor China Jiangsu International Corporation (CJIC) had questions to answer and that it had become “necessary” for them to be made a party to the proceedings.
Ibrahim expressed his concerns to the lead attorney for the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), Queen’s Counsel Vincent Nelson, before the session was adjourned around 11 am. Nelson gave the assurance that the matter was being pursued. Senior Counsel Pamela Elder completed her cross-examination of civil engineer Allan Cunningham yesterday and raised questions about the contractor’s responsibility and accountability for the problems that occurred during phase two of the project.
Among the issues raised were design flaws, site suitability, building layout and the effects of remedial work which eventually failed. Ibrahim said a considerable amount of money was paid in respect of the two buildings which later proved to be uninhabitable. On March 11, CJIC, through its attorneys Alexander, Jeremie and Company, wrote a four-page letter to the commission claiming that it had erred in law when it made the contractor a party to the proceedings.
In the letter, the attorneys claimed that by order dated January 26, 2015, the commission “purported” to make CJIC a party to the enquiry, and they contended that CJIC was “not an entity mentioned in the warrant of His Excellency which was gazetted in an extraordinary issue of the T&T Gazette on 3 December, 2014.” On January 26, Elder made an application to have CJIC made a party to the enquiry.
She pointed out that there were several pieces of evidence in the commission’s possession which would lead to the inevitable conclusion that CJIC would have an interest in the enquiry. Among those, Elder contended, was the fact that CJIC was paid in excess of $65 million for the construction and design of buildings H and I which were earmarked to be demolished.
Ibrahim agreed with Elder’s submission and granted an order making the contractor a party, following which commission secretary Laraine Lutchmedial dispatched a letter notifying CJIC that they were made a party to the enquiry.
Cunningham, who was previously employed by the HDC as a divisional project manager from May 2010 to July 2012, testified on Tuesday he was shocked to learn of the cracks that had appeared in buildings H and I, but pointed out that he had acted immediately to find solutions to the problem. At the time, CJIC was the project contractor, while Civil Engineering Management and Services Ltd (CEMAS) was listed as the consultants hired by CJIC.
AT A GLANCE
The commission of enquiry was set up to investigate “the entire process which led to the construction of the Las Alturas Towers at Lady Young Gardens, Morvant, and all other acts, matters or decisions done or undertaken incidental to and including the construction” of the project, which included the procurement process. Two multi-storey units of the Las Alturas housing project began falling apart after construction and the $26 million towers were earmarked for demolition.
They were part of a larger project, which was originally budgeted at $65 million and then rose to $90 million. The commission is chaired by former Justice of Appeal Mustapha Ibrahim. The other members include civil engineers Dr Myron Wing-Sang Chin and Anthony Farrell. Attorney Laraine Lutchmedial is the secretary.
They were appointed by President Anthony Carmona last December. Last September, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar recommended an enquiry into the project after raising concerns about the two towers. Persad-Bissessar said Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, who was a former housing minister under the PNM, as well as Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde, who succeeded him, have distanced themselves from blame.
Rowley said though he welcomed the probe, it would be another waste of taxpayers’ dollars.