FINANCE Minister, Larry Howai, must first clear himself of ten year old Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) insider-trading allegations before overseeing any Phoenix Park Initial Public Offering (IPO), which itself should be frozen until full answers are given on the “raging scandal” of the First Citizens Bank (FCB) IPO, said Opposition Leader, Dr Keith Rowley. Further, if Howai does not make an adequate public statement on his TCL dealings, the Opposition will soon bring a no-confidence motion against him in Parliament, even as Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner has threatened likewise. Rowley was addressing a news briefing at his office at Charles Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. “We are demanding a Minister of Finance who we can trust; Failing that there will be a motion of censure demanding his removal,” said Rowley. He was undaunted by any pre-action protocol, or by how long ago the matter was, saying, “We want a clear answer.” He would not rely on action by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar whom he accused of backing errant ministers to the end. When the TCL matter was raised last December, Howai had declared that in his professional life he had never done anything “inappropriate”, nor done any “dishonest. or illegal conduct.” Rowley yesterday accused Howai of trying to hide the TCL issue by making loud statements about the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe of the FCB IPO. However, even on the latter matter he noted that Howai had refused to ever reveal the PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC) Report that he had commissioned into the FCB IPO, even as the SEC probe remains awaited/outstanding. Rowley said the SEC should say why it is not heeding the advice of a senior counsel who had urged the possibility of criminal action be taken against Howai. He added that the lengthiness of the probe into the FCB IPO could be seen as stonewalling so as to add to national cynicism about this watchdog body. Criticising the PM’s recent address to the nation of falling oil-prices, Rowley dubbed the Government “the poster child for the dependency syndrome” and said their concern with the upcoming general election meant they are unlikely to properly act on the economy, and so they should call the elections now. Even as the PM had proposed the Phoenix Park IPO to raise funds to make up for lower revenues due to falling global oil-prices, Rowley said the low-price climate would reduce the valuation of this natural gas-based industry and so result in the IPO being a fire-sale. Relating his shock last Friday in the Lower House at his statements being accused of sabotaging the Phoenix Park IPO, he said he had replied that the undermining was due to a lack of trust in Howai in wake of the “scandalous” FCB IPO. Accusing Howai of having tried to mislead the country on the FCB IPO, he said it is a raging scandal that is now subject of criminal investigation. Saying Howai also has to urgently answer some “serious allegations” about his conduct during CEMEX’s attempted takeover of TCL, Rowley alleged, “to date he has not responded”.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 13:47:25 +0000
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