By: Trinidad Guardian

Thursday April 22,

The Urban Development Corporation of T&T Ltd (Udecott) board has not been reconstituted more than two weeks after Attorney General John Jeremie fired the four remaining members of the old Calder Hart-led board. 

According to Udecott chairman, Jearlean John, board meetings were at a standstill since she was the lone Udecott board member. John was also unsure about the date that the other Udecott board members were relieved of their services. 

“No, (the Udecott board has not been reconstituted), not that I know of anyway,” John said in a telephone interview yesterday. “Yes, they (the other board members) have been (relieved of their services). I really cannot recall (when).”

John said Planning, Housing and the Environment Minister Emily Dick-Forde, under whose portfolio Udecott fell, would be in a better position to offer answers about the reconstitution of the Udecott board. Several calls yesterday to both Dick-Forde and Tina Gronlund-Nunez, Minister in the Ministry of Planning, Housing and the Environment, went unanswered. 

John said Udecott continued its operations, although it no longer had a fully-operational board. “The work continues as long as the approval is valid,” John said. 

“The board meetings will only have to impact on decisions and so on, but there is a lot of work that Udecott has engaged in.” On April 6, Jeremie advised that Udecott board members would be replaced, except for John.

He made the announcement after tabling in the Senate the Uff Report on the commission inquiry into Udecott and the construction sector. The report called for an audit of all board members and senior staff. 

It also recommended that “Udecott must improve its management skills and should not take on functions for which they do not have properly experienced and qualified professional staff.” 

The ousted Udecott directors included its deputy chairman Dr Krishna Bahadoorsingh, senator Michael Annisette, Wendell Dottin and Anthony Cherry. In a telephone interview yesterday, Bahadoorsingh said he received a letter “about two days ago” thanking him for his services. He said he was not interviewed for any criminal probes and he welcomed all investigations.

-Kimberly Mackhan