March 9th, 2010.

A senior Government source said yesterday that the authorities could not stop former UDeCOTT chairman, Calder Hart, from leaving the jurisdiction.

Told that many were asking why Hart was allowed to leave the country on Saturday following his resignation, the source asked: ’On what basis can you stop someone from travelling?

What should we do?

Forget the law?

Take his passport from him because some people in Trinidad and Tobago want blood regardless?’

The senior Government source added,’We must demonstrate our respect and commitment to the democratic principles enshrined in our Constitution and respect for the rule of law, hallmarks of a first world country.

We cannot stop a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago from getting on a plane and going anywhere, or going on the beach or playing football for that matter.’

The source confirmed that Hart’s attorneys have assured Attorney General John Jeremie that he is ’available for questioning at any time that the authorities wish to speak to him’, providing details of his whereabouts and phone numbers as well as his date of intended return.

Diego Martin West MP, Dr Keith Rowley, also shared the view that Hart could not be stopped at the airport on Saturday.

’The man has not been charged with anything.

Even though the evidence is there in the public domain, the relevant authorities have not moved with dispatch to decide a charge should or should not be laid. He is free to go wherever he wants.’

He added that by having no Integrity Commission, and by the Commissioner of Police not opening up an investigation, ’the man is free to go’.

Meanwhile, Opposition MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh yesterday wrote to the Attorney General, asking whether he has launched a criminal probe into Hart. Gopeesingh had previously written the Acting DPP on the issue and that letter was referred to the Commissioner of Police.

Gopeesingh also wants to the AG to say the status of existing extradition treaties between Trinidad and Tobago and Canada and Trinidad and Tobago and the United States, in the light of the departure of Hart and his wife, who, he contended, are both crucial to any criminal probe.

Gopeesingh has given the Attorney General until the end of the week to respond to these issues.

The Caroni East MP told Jeremie in the letter that it was his duty to ensure that Hart was probed, since he had the AntiCorruption Bureau under his portfolio.

Hart resigned on Friday, one day after documentary evidence confirming a family link between himself and directors and shareholders of CH Development, a firm which won a $368.9 million award from UDeCOTT.


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