THE Prime Minister said new allegations in court over payments by a former board of the EMDB have nothing to do with race nor elections, addressing a news briefing at Whitehall, Port of Spain, on February 14.

The Estate Management and Business Development Company (EMBD) prepares access to plots for former sugar-cane workers.

Dr Rowley said he was supposed to be in Tobago, but had to counter reports in one newspaper which had cited opposition allegations.

One newspaper had quoted Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar alleging, “This is the tenth year that the PNM has been pathetically peddling these same tired allegations without getting anywhere. Every election, EMBD is the PNM manifesto because they have no achievements to speak of.

“This is just the same lame and lazy electioneering from the PNM for their base, as always, so they can run their racist ground campaign that ‘all them Indian is thief.’ They love to fabricate these cases to then pay tens of millions to PNM ‘eat a food’ lawyers, and then the case gets thrown out.”

Rowley read the latest news headlines, scoffing at the allegations of “election smear,” “fabricated,” “PNM propaganda,” and “electioneering.”

Marvelling, he mused, “That is how a former prime minister responds.”

He quoted a cabinet note #1656 dated July 1, 2015 (under the former PP government) that had sought approval to pay contractors $400 million. The note said cabinet had already approved payments on roads and infrastructure to upgrade 14 sites for former workers of Caroni (1975) Ltd. These sums were $2.58 billion, $781 million, $1.65 billion and $330 million already approved, plus the additional $400 million sought.

Rowley said in 2017, contractors filed a lawsuit against the EMBD to get payments, but a week later the EMBD filed a counter-claim to each of three matters. He said the EMBD’s claim alleged collusion by former officials to pay $300 million for 12 contracts for “defective and overpriced work.”

He said the contractors had tried to strike out the EMBD’s action and had asked the EMBD to provide particulars but in 2020 Justice James Aboud in the High Court rejected the contractors’ claim.

The PM said, “It had nothing to do with the PNM or election timing.”

He said in 2023, the Appeal Court dismissed contractors’ appeals, with Justice Peter Rajkumar saying the EMBD had successfully said it had suffered a financial loss.

The PM said, “What was ‘tried’ is that there was a case to be tried.”

He said contractors sought to go both indirectly and directly to the Privy Council but failed on both counts.

“They are now required to put in their defence, so the substance of the matter can be heard in the court and the evidence can be adjudicated upon by the court.”

Rowley said it had always been a court matter. He lamented Persad-Bissessar, as a former prime minister, telling the population that EMBD was just “a PNM matter and election propaganda.”

Rowley claimed two officers of State were attempting a deception against the people of TT.

The PM scoffed a