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alexk
Guest
“Fake news! Untrue! Baseless!”
That’s how Finance Minister Colm Imbert yesterday dismissed claims by United National Congress Senator Wade Mark regarding Government’s acquisition of the Galleon’s Passage ferry.
“It was a straight transaction! There’s not a shred of evidence to support any insinuation or allegation by Senator Mark,” Imbert fumed in the Senate.
Imbert was concluding his response to a motion Mark piloted demanding that Imbert present certain reports on the vessel in two weeks. These included valuation reports, the agreement between Nidco and the vessel’s vendor and a Dunn and Bradstreet report.
Saying the process was “curiouser and curiouser”, Mark said citizens were asking if the vessel’s US$17.3 million price is worth it.
“We’ll only know if we see these documents,” Mark added.
Mark asked if a broker had offered a vessel called the “Dona Mercedes” to Government and why the latter vessel had the same international maritime number as the Galleon’s Passage—9772888.
Querying if the Galleons Passage was new, Mark said a TV show featuring the “Dona Mercedes” indicated that vessel was launched in 2016 and it might have been “all over the seas” before Government purchased it. He said the price of the vessel for its first Venezuelan purchaser, the Grand Cacique, was US$15 million.
“How could a new boat cost (US)$15 million but after 15 months Government paid (US)$17 million for it, it should have cost no more than (US)$6 million. I call on the Attorney General to follow the money,” Mark declared.
“Information suggests the same broker—who offered three water taxis to Government in 2008—also offered the Galleons Passage on behalf of an affiliate in Australia,” Mark said, asking if the broker was John Aitkenhead of International Brokering Services.
Mark queried who Government bought the vessel from—whether it was Sea Transport Corporation or Sea Lease Ltd, whose main shareholder he said is Sea Management Corporation. He said SMC is a trustee for Stuart Ballentyne.
“Is there a link between him and the Finance Minister?” he asked.
Mark said Ballentyne also owned Oceanic Design Services, which valued the vessel for Government at (US)$19 million. Mark said he’d write to Australia’s government and its securities and financial probing units to track the transaction.
An angry Imbert, saying he’d noted increasing Opposition “trends of fake news”, refuted Mark’s claims. He said he’d made it clear in previous statements there was no “broker” since the vessel’s owner was Stuart Ballentyne, who’d called Government directly and offered the vessel and the selling company was Sea Lease Ltd.
Imbert said Oceanic Design Services’ valuation was an “in-house” valuation and Government didn’t rely on this. He said reports were sought from reputable Japanese firm Shulte Marine Concepts, University of T&T experts were sent to examine the vessel, plus reputable US firm Haynes and Boone did title and other searches on the vessel.
“Shulte Marine valued the vessel at (US)$35-38 million. That was good enough for us. We had numerous inspections saying it was a brand new vessel, yet I have to hear this fiction (from Mark), it’s a figment of his imagination. I don’t know where he gets these wild stories, there’s no supporting evidence!” Imbert added.