Public Utilities Minister: TSTT-Amplia Investigation Nearing Completion
Minister of Public Utilities Barry Padarath says Government’s investigation into TSTT’s acquisition of Amplia is nearing completion.
The management of State Enterprises under the former PNM administration came under scrutiny on Friday as Minister Padarath raised concerns over TSTT’s acquisition of Amplia.
Speaking in the Lower House, he questioned the circumstances surrounding the transaction and indicated that further details would be made public upon completion of the final report.
« No evaluation report. Over $200 million expended of taxpayers’ money, $200 million dollars in the first instance, Mr Speaker. A company that wasn’t even worth half of that. Mr Speaker, the details will come in the final report. Mr Speaker, when they bought Amplia, pocketed the money, TSTT then had to give them a loan of $300 million. The exposure to TSTT is over half a billion dollars. »
The Minister also raised questions about the handling of outstanding payments to contractors following the closure of the Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL).
« I’m advised there’s a file on EFCL at the Attorney General’s office. You see, there was an instruction when EFCL was closed down by a former Cabinet Minister of the People’s National Movement who instructed that only one contractor was to be paid millions of dollars while all the small and medium contractors were told the company is now defunct and you have nothing to get. »
Meanwhile, Minister of Land and Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein praised the current administration’s management of TTT Limited, crediting Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Nicholas Morris for changes at the State-owned broadcaster.
« Minister Morris in the Office of the Prime Minister, who has direct oversight over TTT, Mr Speaker, has revived the TTT that you are now seeing a higher viewership of TTT. That is a State control enterprise. Where you have a much more diverse level of programming rather than the PNM hiring TTT and refuse to pay them. »
