90 million to refurbish Brian Lara Stadium

[16 cycles]

I repeat the words of Prof Uff: This is a national disgrace.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commenta ... 23001.html

circa 2013

may she RIP

[VII]

I repeat the words of Prof Uff: This is a national disgrace.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commenta ... 23001.html

circa 2013

may she RIP

May she RIP gosh I miss Dana,grew up on Dana..

Pity the state couldn't protect such a daughter...to me that trumps any infrastructural disgrace,Dana was worth much more to T&T than any construction project ,and clearly Gov't of the day failed to protect her..

I'll give up any piece of concrete,steel or asphalt paid for in full and over budget by any Gov't for Dana to have simply reached home safe that night.

RIP Dana..

[matr1x]

90 million on that crap. I hope they burn for this

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

VII

I just checked it out on wikipedia the price of this stadium is $850 million so while I am sure it had tons of corruption in it, I withdraw my statement saying we should have spent the 90 million elsewhere. Don't get me wrong I still think this was a waste of money but you can't allow $850 million down the drain like that.

It makes no sense we spend $850 million and then leave it as a ghost shell standing especially when the cost to complete is only $90 million. The PPG should have completed this years ago and we would not have had to deal with this now. But because it was a PNM project they refused to complete it and this is the issue I have with our 3rd world politicians they does only study politics and not the people or our tax dollars.

[Numb3r4]

Trinbagonians are not appreciative of the infrastructural progress of their country, the administration is trying to give the people a product to rally behind to promote unity and good sportsmanship.

After the Kamla administration spent money on a Brazillian firm to build a highway, this administration is proving that you don't need to hire foreign to waste money, you can hire local and waste less, or more depending. It proves we don't need any help or foreign interference we are a self sufficient nation, we can thief, or misappropriate our own tax payer funds ourselves. A good message in these times when foreign exchange is so hard to come by. It reinforces the message of patronizing local.

Secondly as we all know we have a crime problem in this country, a problem that affects mainly at risk youth. We also know that one of the preeminent solutions to this is sport. Sport is one of the best tools in the crime fighting arsenal, more so than a DNA registry, sport is proactive, a registry reactive because only after the fact can we check the crime scene for DNA. This stadium will help to facilitate the athletic training of youth and as such it will be helpful in lowering the crime rate.

Thirdly in light of the increased instances of heart disease, and diabetes in Trinidad and Tobago a stadium is the best place to get exercise, it is a subtle message to the public that they need to exercise more, if they do they will be healthier and as such they will not need to go to the doctor as much solving the health care crisis. We may get to a point where we may be so healthy that we as a country can get by on only one CT scanner or none for that matter, we may never need another new hospital which means that the Couva hospital need not be opened saving the Government millions, which could be spent to build even more stadia, thus helping to further the cycle of positivity and endless benefit for the country.

Are any stadiums in Trinidad open to the public for their use?

Dude don't worry they will make all stadia free to the public.....


This post was also written as a joke.....sort of sarcastically.

Remember in these hard times we must encourage local anyway we can and that means we as a people must decide who we want stealing our tax payers money, local or foreign.

This administration has made the right choice by allowing local contractors to do this, unlike the previous administration which allowed foreign contractors to do it with the highway.

[Gladiator]

Trinbagonians are not appreciative of the infrastructural progress of their country, the administration is trying to give the people a product to rally behind to promote unity and good sportsmanship.

After the Kamla administration spent money on a Brazillian firm to build a highway, this administration is proving that you don't need to hire foreign to waste money, you can hire local and waste less, or more depending. It proves we don't need any help or foreign interference we are a self sufficient nation, we can thief, or misappropriate our own tax payer funds ourselves. A good message in these times when foreign exchange is so hard to come by. It reinforces the message of patronizing local.

Secondly as we all know we have a crime problem in this country, a problem that affects mainly at risk youth. We also know that one of the preeminent solutions to this is sport. Sport is one of the best tools in the crime fighting arsenal, more so than a DNA registry, sport is proactive, a registry reactive because only after the fact can we check the crime scene for DNA. This stadium will help to facilitate the athletic training of youth and as such it will be helpful in lowering the crime rate.

Thirdly in light of the increased instances of heart disease, and diabetes in Trinidad and Tobago a stadium is the best place to get exercise, it is a subtle message to the public that they need to exercise more, if they do they will be healthier and as such they will not need to go to the doctor as much solving the health care crisis. We may get to a point where we may be so healthy that we as a country can get by on only one CT scanner or none for that matter, we may never need another new hospital which means that the Couva hospital need not be opened saving the Government millions, which could be spent to build even more stadia, thus helping to further the cycle of positivity and endless benefit for the country.

Are any stadiums in Trinidad open to the public for their use?

Dude don't worry they will make all stadia free to the public.....


This post was also written as a joke.....sort of sarcastically.

Remember in these hard times we must encourage local anyway we can and that means we as a people must decide who we want stealing our tax payers money, local or foreign.

This administration has made the right choice by allowing local contractors to do this, unlike the previous administration which allowed foreign contractors to do it with the highway.

The kickback easier to arrange from local too.... too inconvenient to access it from foreign.

[De Dragon]

VII

I just checked it out on wikipedia the price of this stadium is $850 million so while I am sure it had tons of corruption in it, I withdraw my statement saying we should have spent the 90 million elsewhere. Don't get me wrong I still think this was a waste of money but you can't allow $850 million down the drain like that.

It makes no sense we spend $850 million and then leave it as a ghost shell standing especially when the cost to complete is only $90 million. The PPG should have completed this years ago and we would not have had to deal with this now. But because it was a PNM project they refused to complete it and this is the issue I have with our 3rd world politicians they does only study politics and not the people or our tax dollars.

The only time that that stadium would have made sense or money was in 2007 had it been completed for the World Cup, and only because we would have been forced to use it. Noel Garcia and the PNM talk sheit and display a real lack of understanding when they talk sheit like "CPL will save rental vs the QPR to host games" as if rental is the only cost in hosting a sporting event.
The Oval IS international cricket in Trinidad, so any money saved on rent will be lost in other revenue streams like gate receipts, advertising, etc. Like it or not all these "cricket posses" will not go all the way down south to watch cricket, hell, they don't even watch it in the QPR, but its the atmosphere and the lime that they come for.

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

^ You are right they could have probably renovated the Oval or something and saved a ton of money. I dunno how you would feel about abandoning it after $850 million Tax dollars spent though? But I guess in times like this we could have abandoned it? still $850 million down the drain?

Hard call but I agree nobody wants to go behind god back to play cricket there in a place that would normally attract explorers and hunters. Port of Spain is developed and the best place for Cricket.

well i guess we have a completed worthless stadium now with over $900 million wasted even if we may not use it.

[sMASH]

so no, u have two competing spots for hosting cricket matches... how often do cricket matches happen in the caribbean? i mean, in a profit generating way.
forget bout the previous cost, just see how long it takes to recover just the 90million.

the argument posted is that people can use it for exercise. look at skinner park. more people use the exertnal grounds to have a few small sweat, and do their laps around the track.... that is just a big flat grassy area with a paved circumference.

[De Dragon]

so no, u have two competing spots for hosting cricket matches... how often do cricket matches happen in the caribbean? i mean, in a profit generating way.
forget bout the previous cost, just see how long it takes to recover just the 90million.

the argument posted is that people can use it for exercise. look at skinner park. more people use the exertnal grounds to have a few small sweat, and do their laps around the track.... that is just a big flat grassy area with a paved circumference.

Manny Ramjohn is also just minutes away. None of that group of stadia (Manny,Ato,Larry) are ever utilized for anything profit generating, so why pray tell do misguided souls think that Tarouba will be different?

[maj. tom]

theme park. fill it with dinosaurs. invite the public. dinosaur escapes. disaster. somehow a ship involved. $$$

[sMASH]

U calling panday a dinosaur...lol..

the rationale of spending 90million behind 800 mil. isnt that outlandish. is just that at this point in time, we have better things to do with that money,, say for instance cameras along roadways, medicine, worker retraining for those persons who have been vocationally displaced in these recent times. and that inst tightening the belt, it is tightening the noose

but that decision to spend that money came at the last elections. even then it was still reckless, because it wasn't me alone that was seeing the economic precipice were already sliding into. so for the managers of our resources to be so blinded, is dumbfounding.

how stupid the people in the PNM are, they actually wanted to go forward with the rapid tram. it take an organization reputed to be theifing money from small economies, to tell them, 'nah, allyuh cyant afford dat.' for they to stop doing it.

u cant afford a childrens hospital and need to partner with somebody, u want to open a national train system, to get secretary from grande to reach PoS to work on time.

that is to tell u how clueless this present government is about common fraking sense.


the analogy is the scrunter who always has the best shoes and always in the some fete and always mopping a drop and always borrowing. they have no idea about how money works.
anyway, PNM party, PNM government, PNM people, PNM country. great minds think alike.


i am seriously starting thinking about leaving this country and contributing towards another country. where i can see some return on my investment.

[VII]

U calling panday a dinosaur...lol..

the rationale of spending 90million behind 800 mil. isnt that outlandish. is just that at this point in time, we have better things to do with that money,, say for instance cameras along roadways, medicine, worker retraining for those persons who have been vocationally displaced in these recent times. and that inst tightening the belt, it is tightening the noose

but that decision to spend that money came at the last elections. even then it was still reckless, because it wasn't me alone that was seeing the economic precipice were already sliding into. so for the managers of our resources to be so blinded, is dumbfounding.

how stupid the people in the PNM are, they actually wanted to go forward with the rapid tram. it take an organization reputed to be theifing money from small economies, to tell them, 'nah, allyuh cyant afford dat.' for they to stop doing it.

u cant afford a childrens hospital and need to partner with somebody, u want to open a national train system, to get secretary from grande to reach PoS to work on time.

that is to tell u how clueless this present government is about common fraking sense.


the analogy is the scrunter who always has the best shoes and always in the some fete and always mopping a drop and always borrowing. they have no idea about how money works.
anyway, PNM party, PNM government, PNM people, PNM country. great minds think alike.


i am seriously starting thinking about leaving this country and contributing towards another country. where i can see some return on my investment.

Where was all this conviction when the last Gov't was wasting billions,did we get value for money with 'Lifesport', 'colour me orange etc,did we really get value for money with the hospital? What about the highway?

Chances are you are either of African,Indian,Chinese or Syrian extraction or a combination,maybe you should migrate to one of those places,go brave lol.

[sMASH]

We needed hospital, pt fortain needed a highway.
As time went by, it was seen that too much money was spent, but it would have resulted in we getting a necessary hospital and a necessary highway.


While all ah Dem thief, at least the people would have gotten sum ting out of the unc squandermania than the PNM.

I wasn't a unc supporter, still am not, but between the two of them, unc would have soften this economic blow and not have things spiral out of control so much.

[VII]

We needed hospital, pt fortain needed a highway.
As time went by, it was seen that too much money was spent, but it would have resulted in we getting a necessary hospital and a necessary highway.


While all ah Dem thief, at least the people would have gotten sum ting out of the unc squandermania than the PNM.

I wasn't a unc supporter, still am not, but between the two of them, unc would have soften this economic blow and not have things spiral out of control so much.

We still need the highway...disaster..phew..

[bluefete]

It was better to take that $90 million and invest it in some equipment to treat our sick children or sick adults.

But then what do I know?

The return on investment on the BL Stadium will be negative for decades to come.

[De Dragon]

U calling panday a dinosaur...lol..

the rationale of spending 90million behind 800 mil. isnt that outlandish. is just that at this point in time, we have better things to do with that money,, say for instance cameras along roadways, medicine, worker retraining for those persons who have been vocationally displaced in these recent times. and that inst tightening the belt, it is tightening the noose

but that decision to spend that money came at the last elections. even then it was still reckless, because it wasn't me alone that was seeing the economic precipice were already sliding into. so for the managers of our resources to be so blinded, is dumbfounding.

how stupid the people in the PNM are, they actually wanted to go forward with the rapid tram. it take an organization reputed to be theifing money from small economies, to tell them, 'nah, allyuh cyant afford dat.' for they to stop doing it.

u cant afford a childrens hospital and need to partner with somebody, u want to open a national train system, to get secretary from grande to reach PoS to work on time.

that is to tell u how clueless this present government is about common fraking sense.


the analogy is the scrunter who always has the best shoes and always in the some fete and always mopping a drop and always borrowing. they have no idea about how money works.
anyway, PNM party, PNM government, PNM people, PNM country. great minds think alike.


i am seriously starting thinking about leaving this country and contributing towards another country. where i can see some return on my investment.

Where was all this conviction when the last Gov't was wasting billions,did we get value for money with 'Lifesport', 'colour me orange etc,did we really get value for money with the hospital? What about the highway?

Chances are you are either of African,Indian,Chinese or Syrian extraction or a combination,maybe you should migrate to one of those places,go brave lol.

So your rationale is to continue the profligacy of the last Government? OUR money, no matter who throws it away, still results in a loss of OUR money.

[sMASH]

fleck, use words i can pronounce pls... nearly bite meh tongue...

see why i never wanted to play scrabble...

[sMASH]

i read today on fassbook that there were long lines of people waiting for ct scans at the patrick manning stadium.
all of them paid health surcharge, at one time or the other.

[LOUD AND CLEAR AUDIO]

Yep new ct scan in childrens hospital

[De Dragon]

i read today on fassbook that there were long lines of people waiting for ct scans at the patrick manning stadium.
all of them paid health surcharge, at one time or the other.

I guess that is what passes for multipurpose PNM style, get a CT scan while sheltering from a tsunami, all while making millions in sports tourism revenue

[hong kong phooey]

hoss you all letting these die hard UNC forkers corrupt your ways of thinking
once you eat blue food and play outdoor no need for a hospital .
hospital is a waste of money.
Praying will cure any sick and get rid of violence.

[De Dragon]

It was better to take that $90 million and invest it in some equipment to treat our sick children or sick adults.

But then what do I know?

The return on investment on the BL Stadium will be negative for decades to come.

You really think this PNM crew studying dat?. It hadda done build, no matter what seemed to have been the focus, never mind the cost, or subsequent uselessness of the project.

[matr1x]

Hilarious is the pnm dumps money into useless projects. The stadium, beetham, lavantille

[matr1x]

Hilarious is the pnm dumps money into useless projects. The stadium, beetham, lavantille

[Dizzy28]

The Brian Lara Stadium and the Kamla Persad Children's Hospital speaks to a bigger problem than just non-continuity of one party to finish the others projects. It speaks to the fact that as a nation we have not learned from any of our past mistakes.

Trinidad and Tobago hosted the U17 WC in 2001 and built four totally brand new stadia which remain severely underutilized up to today. What fare generating events has happened at the Larry Gomes and Dwight Yorke Stadium in recent memory? If not for school sports days (and now Central FC using the Ato Boldon) there would really be no use for these grand facilities. But what does our Nation do........we go and spend more money than was used to build those 4 stadia to build one cricket ground. This when the QPO hosts two to three days max of International cricket a year(in a non test year which outnumber test years) and another 4 days for CPL action. If the stadium was meant to be a cricket academy what is the National Cricket Centre in Balmain?

Same with the Children's Hospital. We built the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in the 80s and it remained a white elephant for a number of years with a number of buildings in it empty. Instead of fixing a core issue in health care on the inadequate numbers of doctors and nurses in the system as well as the long wait times for key services, we as a Nation built another Hospital. For whom to staff it? Two years ago my father was the EWMSC in February and on Carnival Saturday they sent him home (as well as a number of other patients) because there is a serious absenteeism problem in Carnival week among both Doctors and nurses. These are the people who will man the Children's Hospital??

But hey, how much faster can money be hemorrhaged out of this country than to build grandiose projects.

[bluefete]

But ent de BL stadium was built for dat contractor man (Kareen-a-math), now deceased, to cement his children's legacy.

Ent one of de children brought in some wild tiger cat and had it in a cage with some illegal material?

Whatever happened to that case?

http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog/?p=4220

viewtopic.php?t=258468&start=390

[bluefete]

Lest we forget.



DPP PROBE UDECOTT STADIUM PROJECT

By Andre Bagoo Tuesday, May 19 2009



$53M cheque: The cheque Udecott issued to Hafeez Karamath Limited (HKL) in the sum of $53.8 million on October 2, 2006.


ATTORNEY Alvin Fitzpatrick SC yesterday urged the commissioners in the Uff Commission of Inquiry to make a recommendation that the award of contracts and payment of millions in advances in relation to Udecott’s Brian Lara Stadium project in Tarouba be referred to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Fitzpatrick, lead attorney for the local construction industry’s Joint Consultative Council (JCC), yesterday summed up the case against Udecott that has emerged thus far in the inquiry in the eyes of his client. In making closing submissions at the Winsure Building, Port-of-Spain, Fitzpatrick asked the commissioners to consider whether Udecott acted with “singular favouritism” towards Hafeez Karamath Ltd (HKL) and:

* why Udecott issued a cheque payment voucher to contractor Hafeez Karamath Limited in the sum of $53,898,135 on October 2, 2006, the very day it entered into a contract with Udecott in relation to the Brian Lara Stadium;

* why Udecott issued a payment certificate for the exact same sum on September 18, 2006, weeks before the contract of October 2, 2006 was signed;

* why HKL took out a bond guarantee in the exact amount on September 15, 2006, one day after sending a proposal to Udecott and two weeks before being awarded the contract;

* why Udecott ignored a recommendation from then project managers Turner Alpha Limited in June 2006 that HKL not be awarded work on the project;

* whether there is possibly an “improper link” between Udecott executive chairman Calder Hart and Malaysian firm Sunway;

* why Hart’s personal fax number appears on Sunway correspondence and why a fax trail links his fax number with correspondence sent between Udecott and Sunway;

*whether inexperienced staff are given top posts in Udecott because this would be “conducive to malpractice and corruption” and why Hart hand-picked his staff members and generally held “tremendous powers” over them.

“We submit that in the report of the commission to the President you ought to recommend that the award of the contract with respect to (the Lara Stadium) be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for further investigation,” Fitzpatrick said.

“The tender process was a sham....Very early on Udecott singled out HKL for the award of these ackages...Advanced payments were being made not in respect of work done but some other pernicious purpose...Where did that money go? They (HKL) knew beforehand the exact figure of the performance bond. This is long before the contract even came into being,” Fitzpatrick noted of the $53.8 million bond.

“All this points to an arrangement. All the paperwork thereafter was in an effort to cover up. Why would any contractor outlay $1.5 million for purchase of an advance payment bond if he did not know he was getting a contract? How could a certificate pre-date a contract?” Fitzpatrick asked in relation to the October 2, 2006, $53.8 million payment.

“Udecott with a haste that can be described as unholy prepared the cheque payment on the same day as the award of the contract...Is that a coincidence? The arrangements demonstrate very favourable treatment towards HKL.” He called for a forensic investigator–like Bob Lindquist–to probe the matter.

Commissioner Israel Khan SC noted that it was for the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to decide whether any report is referred to the DPP after receipt of the commissioners’ report from the President.

In relation to the appearance of Hart’s personal fax number on correspondence of contractor Sunway/CH Development in relation to the award of a $368 million contract, Fitzpatrick argued, that the commissioners should make a finding that the matter warrants further investigation.

“The use of the fax number suggests that there was an improper link between (Hart) and CH Development (later Sunway),” he said. “I think it is the responsibility of this tribunal to make recommendations for further investigations of this.”

http://www.newsday.co.tt/day/1,30002.html#foto

[Dizzy28]

But ent de BL stadium was built for dat contractor man (Kareen-a-math), now deceased, to cement his children's legacy.

Ent one of de children brought in some wild tiger cat and had it in a cage with some illegal material?

Whatever happened to that case?

http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog/?p=4220

viewtopic.php?t=258468&start=390

I doubt he needed the stadium money to cement a legacy for his children. He was so favoured by Udecott that from them he got Beverly Hills Housing, Oleara Heights Housing, Real Spring Housing (all those who support Trade Unions would sheit their pants if they ever realize what the big wigs in NUGFW siphoned off on this project) which were all large projects. Then he is/was the majority owner of Desalcott.
His brother benefiting as much as his kids from the deals though.

[tourniquet]

It's entertaining to see people arguing against one set of corruption by using another set done by another party, as if that justifies it . Guess it makes sense though, know what else revolves like that? A flushing toilet . Shame these die hards can't do us a favour and die fast .