People’s National Movement (PNM) chairman Franklin Khan says there is no conflict of interest in the multi-million dollar construction contracts granted to Vidara Enterprises Ltd (Vel). Khan has been linked to Vel, a construction company earning several million dollars in Housing Development Corporation (HDC) contracts. “This same issue was raised in the last three budgets. I am not too concerned about that,” Khan said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Khan’s response comes after Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal questioned whether there was a conflict of interest in Khan’s $53 million in contracts from the HDC between September 2006 to December 2007. Moonilal referred to Khan’s company during his contribution to the budget debate on Friday. “I don’t see any conflict of interest in that,” Khan said.
Khan said he did not see that his company “benefitted” in any special way because of his affiliation with the then PNM government, or because he held the portfolio of minister just months before the company was registered. “Vidara is still a contractor for the HDC,” he said. In a subsequent telephone interview, Moonilal confirmed that Vidara still received HDC contracts.
“But they do not fit the criteria for construction projects. They can do remedial work, put in doors, that kind of thing, but the company does not have the requisite experience to meet the criteria necessary for larger projects,” Moonilal said. When asked how did they qualify for a $53-million construction project less than ten years ago, Moonilal said he was not sure.
“They were already in the system when we came into office, and I am not going to discriminate against any one company. We have a pool of 150 contractors under the HDC,” he said. “My issue is not whether the company still gets contracts or not, my issue is that as a former sitting member of Parliament, he was allowed to walk away with this contract under (PNM leader Dr Keith) Rowley’s watch,” Moonilal said.
“Do you think if Chandresh and his wife or Collin Partap started a company and get multi-million-dollar contracts I would get away with that?” he said. Moonilal said while his brother did own a transport business, he deliberately never allowed him to tender for any contracts that fell under his ministerial portfolio.