Bird Demands Answers About Power Plant Deal

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Wednesday, 04 April 2012 02:31

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and opposition leader Lester Bird is writing to the auditor general and accountant general requesting all information about all dealings between the Government of Antigua & Barbuda and the Chinese company that facilitated the controversial Wadadli Power Plant.

“It would be necessary for us to really have all the information,” Bird told Caribarena.com on Tuesday.

He said Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer must understand that the people of the country need to know the truth.

As for the recent letter penned by Minister of Health Wilmoth Daniel outlining his disapproval of the government's handling of the situation, Bird said, “I agree completely with Mr Wilmoth Daniel to call upon the prime minister to call an investigation or inquiry into this whole question so that the people of the country could be satisfied."

Bird said the PM has "a fiduciary responsibility, a social contract, with the people of the country”.

Caribarena published Daniel's letter on Monday.

According to the former prime minister, the government continues to deny the opposition its fair chance to fulfill its obligation to the electorate by having the matter vetted thoroughly in Parliament. He said the decision to purchase the US$42 M power plant was not even discussed in the House of Assembly.

“They are not fulfilling their obligations. How could you borrow $47 M United States dollars and not go to the Parliament or the Tender’s Board or the procurement committee. All these things are unlawful and flies in the face of democracy,” Bird said.

Further, Bird said the ALP would reiterate its calls for an investigation into the playing field fencing issue that seemed to have gone cold. Still, the party does not want to distract the people from the “fundamental issues” of whether the Wadadli generators are new.

Bird also noted that the prime minister’s refusal to honour the request for a bi-partisan sub-committee to investigate the power plant issue cannot be ignored.

He cited Daniel’s letter, which included recommendations for specific people and organisations to sit on the proposed committee and provide clarity.

“It is very pellucid and very clear that this is something that is going to undermine the social and political fabric of this country,” the opposition leader said, citing recent comments by Louis Farrakhan about political division in the country having the potential to cause its ultimate destruction.

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