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toyota2nr wrote:^^ utter nonsense. Dr. Job was victimized by the PNM for years for talking the truth. The cult just doesn't like to hear that. Thank goodness the population is maturing and the PNM race politics is being seen for what it is.
rfari wrote:Heyy uml, my bff. I missed u buddy. While u were gone i was rell board dan. Eh go lie. Glad u back. My reason for being on the forum has revived:mrgreen:
Anselm London tipped for $60,000 THA job
Published:
Thursday, February 28, 2013
CASANDRA THOMPSON–FORBES
Steps are being taken to hire former secretary of Finance and Enterprise Development in the Tobago House of Assembly, Dr Anselm London, as a consultant for newly-appointed secretary for the division, Joel Jack. The matter was first raised in a Tobago newspaper where it was reported the salary of London as $60,000. This decision has since been met with some concerns by Tobagonians.
Chief Secretary of the THA Orville London is reported as saying that he had no problem paying any salary to anyone once they met the criteria. He also confirmed that an executive note was sent to the Executive Council for approval but was sent back to the Division of Finance for minor alterations and would again be sent to the Executive Council for confirmation.
However, speaking at the post-executive council news conference on yesterday, Jack said Anslem London was chosen because he is the only person with the expertise in the field in Tobago; he also admitted that the position was not advertised.
“In Tobago at this time there is no professional with the technical capacity and with the institutional knowledge of what goes on in the division and the division took the decision to recruit Dr London as a senior consultant given his relationship with the division and the intimate knowledge and also his technical capacity so no, it was not advertised in that regard and as we do it in procurement, we exercised the right of sole selective tender,” Jack said.
Jack said while Anslem London was the only candidate for the position, the process was transparent as they would have sought the benchmark remuneration package for senior executives in the field, from reputable salary assessment firms throughout T&T including HRC Associates and CAIRI Consultants. He said information would have come from several private sector entities as well as the Central Bank to determine a suitable remuneration package for the senior consultant.
“We received two recommendations, the first one suggested a monthly package of $92,000, and the second package recommended a flat monthly figure of $90,000,” Jack said. “Following our negotiations with the administrator and the senior consultant, a figure of $60,000 was agreed upon, so it is not an arbitrary figure that was pulled out a hat but this was done after careful consultation.”
Tobagonians have also voiced their opinion about the retention of former secretary of tourism and transportation Neil Wilson as a consultant to current Secretary for Tourism Tracy Davidson-Celestine.
rfari wrote:Heyy uml, my bff. I missed u buddy. While u were gone i was rell board dan. Eh go lie. Glad u back. My reason for being on the forum has revived:mrgreen:
kaylex wrote:UML GEH BAN??? Didnt notice
The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) does not require the permission of the Minister of Finance to enter into special financing arrangements for its construction projects, a High Court Judge ruled yesterday.
Although Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh ruled that the Finance Minister’s approval was unnecessary, in his 18-page judgment delivered in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, he stated that such financing agreements for construction projects still required a competitive tender as prescribed under the Central Tenders Board (CTB) Act. He said the THA was not outside the purview of the legislation and could not seek to find unapproved ways to get around perceived inefficiencies and problems in the legislation.
“At the end of the day the THA, as does the central government, deals with public funds and it must operate with the supervisory mechanisms that exist for overseeing the spending of public funds, however imperfect those mechanisms are,” Boodoosingh said.
The ruling comes a little under two years after issues of the THA’s ability to enter into a Build, Own, Lease Transfer (BOLT) agreement for a $142 million Milshirv Adminstration Complex in Shirvan, Tobago, were raised by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan during the campaign for the THA elections last January.
After questioning the lack of Cabinet consultation and approval for the project Ramlogan’s office had filed a judicial review challenging the decision and seeking to quash the deal. However, during a pre-trial stage, the lawsuit was converted to one of statutory interpretation where Boodoosingh was asked to determine whether the THA required central government’s approval before signing the contract as well as if such a contract needed to be awarded under the supervision of the Central Tenders Board.
The decision has rendered Boodoosingh’s judgment on the issue as hypothetical and academic since the project was no longer being contested. In his judgment, Boodoosingh ruled that although BOLT agreements were financing agreements, they did not require approval as they were not an attempt to borrow money for capital expenditure, which required such, as prescribed in the THA Act.
BOLT agreements are a form of non-debt based financing where a client gives permission to a company to use its money to construct a facility on their land (client). The client then repays the construction costs by entering into a lease with the company for renting the facility for a prescribed period. On the completion of the lease, ownership of the facility will be transfered to the client. It allows the client to utilise recurrent expenditure rather than an up front lump sum payment.
Although Boodoosingh ruled that the THA did not need approval, he still suggested that consultation takes place in the interest of “good governance and efficency”. “Without consultation, the THA risks that the Minister of Finance will not allocate recurrent expenditure each year to cover the payment of the lease. “The THA would then place itself in the precarious position of having to find alternative sources of funding or to redistribute funds from other recurrent expenditure to apply to its rental payments,” Boodoosingh said.
John Jeremie, SC, Kerwyn Garcia and Stuart Young represented the THA. Senior Counsel Alvin Fitzpatrick and attorneys Lesley-Ann Lucky-Samaroo and Martin George appeared for the Attorney General.
THA responds
In a release sent yesterday afternoon, the THA’s secretary for the Division of Finance and Enterprise Development Joel Jack said the THA welcomed Boodoosingh’s decision as it was consistent with its long-held position on the issue. “This has always been the position of the THA which, prior to the establishment of the Milshirv project, sought the advice of Senior Counsel to ensure that the assembly, as is its custom, was operating according to law,” Jack said.
However, Jack said the THA was disappointed that the issue was politicised during the runup to last year’s election. He stated that the THA supported Boodoosingh’s suggestion on collaboration with central government, since the assembly had been advocating for such for some time. Jack also accepted Boodoosingh’s ruling on the requirement of a tender process for BOLT agreements.
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