KEVON FELMINE

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

Works and Trans­port Min­is­ter Ro­han Sinanan says he has been con­cerned about the op­er­a­tions of the Port Au­thor­i­ty of T&T (Patt) since he be­came a min­is­ter.

The Joint Se­lect Com­mit­tee's (JSC) in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to the pro­cure­ment of the Cabo Star and the Ocean Flower 2 rais­es se­ri­ous ques­tions about the con­duct of the Patt,.

Sinanan said while he could not com­ment on the JSC un­til the probe was com­plete, he was in­ter­est­ed in the out­come as both line min­is­ter and cit­i­zen and added that he does not ex­pect the out­come to be pleas­ing.

"I am re­al­ly look­ing for­ward to the re­sults be­cause I think com­ing out of this JSC, it will tell us ex­act­ly what prob­lems we have at the Port of Port-of-Spain that have been there for quite a while. It is time that we do some­thing about it. I have been con­cerned since one week af­ter I be­came min­is­ter. I raised that the port was in a mess and the prob­lems that we are ex­pe­ri­enc­ing now were in­evitable," Sinanan said.

Last week, En­er­gy Min­is­ter and JSC mem­ber Franklin Khan said based on the in­for­ma­tion be­ing shared in the probe, there was no dis­ci­pline and no gov­er­nance at Patt.

Asked whether there would be any man­age­ment changes if they were found want­i­ng, Sinanan said, "As the min­is­ter that is way out of my league. There is a board in place and I ex­pect that when the re­port comes in, the board will look at it and the board will make the de­ci­sions to take the port from where it is to where a port should be."

Asked what would hap­pen if the prob­lem was at the board lev­el, he said he will wait for the re­port be­fore mak­ing any state­ment.