CAL chairman denies corruption in award of contract

George Nicholas, chairman of state-owned Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL), said Monday that the award of a multimillion-dollar contract to a company in which his family has an interest, had been done in a transparent manner and in keeping with good corporate practice.

The Sunday Guardian newspaper reported that a TT$27 million (US$4.5 million) contract had been awarded to CIC Insurance Brokers, to which Nicholas is connected.

But in a statement, Nicholas, through his lawyer Lionel Luckhoo, said he had declared his interests in the company early in the process and was not present at the meeting when the decision to award the contract was made.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has, however, asked Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner to launch an investigation into the allegations of tendering impropriety at the airline and liaise with Attorney General Anand Ramlogan on the matter.

"There are some things that I am not aware of and some I only read about in the newspapers. In all cases investigations will be made, but in the meantime the CAL board continues to function."

Nicholas said the story published in the newspaper would lead readers to believe that he "behaved in an underhand way because of the opening paragraph (of) the article and the headline, which is plainly untrue.

"I am proud of the approach that I have taken to issues of integrity and transparency and would like to emphasise that I did declare the interest and I took no part in the debate," he said, noting that a business relationship existed between the airline and CIC Holdings before he was appointed to head the airline last November.

"The reality is that CIC Holdings had been the brokers for CAL for the period prior to the brokers who were appointed under the old administration and further as I understand the position, once the decision to appoint CIC was made it was twice reviewed in order to ensure the maintenance of integrity."

The newspaper said the three-year contract to provide Employee Benefits Brokerage and Consulting Services at CAL, was awarded on February 4, this year and that CIC Insurance Brokers was one of three companies shortlisted.

- CMC