BY KYLE JEREMIAH

The Opposition intends to file a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Patrick Manning for trying to “frustrate” and “kill” the upcoming enquiry into the operations of Udecott, Opposition Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj announced yesterday.

Although the motion may be a futile effort, Maharaj conceded, it was still important for the PM to face the full scrutiny of the public.

Maharaj was responding during the tea-break of yesterday’s sitting of Parliament to the announcement made by Leader of Government Business Colm Imbert that British professor John Uff would chair the commission of enquiry into Udecott.

Maharaj noted that the Government already had a two-month delay since Manning announced the enquiry in Parliament.

He suggested that a chairman for the enquiry could have been appointed within a two-week period and that the country could have had a report on the Udecott probe already. Maharaj said the enquiry itself would not have lasted beyond three weeks.

Imbert said that the submission of the report of the enquiry would be in October, 2009.

Condemning the Government for the delay, Maharaj claimed that Manning was seeking to make the public lose interest in the matter.

Maharaj also lamented that Prof Huff may be impotent to adequately deal with the issues surrounding Udecott as there may be no evidence to examine.

He said even as there was a further delay of three months, according to his investigation, no steps were taken by the Government to ensure that Udecott records were not tampered with.