After being lambasted for its procrastination in the appointment of the much-anticipated Commission of Enquiry into the construction industry and UDeCOTT (Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited), Government yesterday announced a chairman along with a time frame that would see the Commission holding detailed hearings between January and July of next year, and presenting its report in October 2009.

The naming of the British jurist and civil engineer, Prof John Uff, "a world-renowned expert in construction practice, engineering and law" was made by Works Minister and Leader of Government Business Colm Imbert in Parliament yesterday. Prime Minister Patrick Manning is in Brazil on government business.

Imbert said the appointments of the other three members of the Commission, who would all be citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, were currently being finalised. He said this exercise is expected to be completed within the next two weeks. Sources said yesterday that prominent criminal Senior Counsel Israel Khan was among the people being considered.

In his statement to the House of Representatives, Imbert said that even though Government's critics would not concede this "fact", "it should now be apparent that the Government had approached this very serious matter in a responsible and professional manner".

He said the delay in the appointment of a chairman, (after the initial choice, Gordon Deane, withdrew), occurred because Government wanted to make sure that the person who was eventually selected had the ability to conduct "this important task in the proper manner". "Further", he said, "because of the nature of the enquiry, the chairman's credentials had to be impeccable and beyond reproach. Ironically, it is axiomatic that if we had not approached this assignment properly, the same people who are criticising us for taking too long to commence the enquiry would have condemned us for making a poor selection".

Imbert also justified the choice of a foreign chairman, saying, "after consideration of other potential chairmen in the domestic environment, it soon became apparent that because of the comprehensive nature of the enquiry and the interlocking interests in the local construction sector, it would be difficult to find a chairman in Trinidad and Tobago who would not be deemed to be unacceptable by local interest groups, for one reason or another".

Imbert said based on the proposed time schedule that had been developed with Prof Uff, it was expected that barring unforeseen circumstances, the Commission would be able to do its preliminary work and attend to procedural matters and administrative arrangements, such as interlocutory orders, acquisition of suitable accommodation, staffing, engagement of legal counsel and the holding of a preliminary hearing, within the next three or four months, that is, by October/November 2008.

"It is expected...the detailed hearings of the Enquiry will take place over the period January 2009 to July 2009, with submission of the Report of the Enquiry approximately three months thereafter," he said.

Imbert said Government felt it necessary to update the Parliament and the national community on the issue because there had been "uninformed speculation on the status of the Commission of Enquiry...which if left unchecked, will lead to further misinformation in the public domain". The Commission of Enquiry comes two months after Manning's initial announcement of an Enquiry in a debate on UDeCOTT in the House of Representatives. Imbert gave no response to allegations by Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj which was made at the same debate.

Responding to Opposition criticisms that Government was dragging the process further with the timetable for the Commission, the Government source said that if one looked at the history of Commissions of Enquiry, the record would show that nothing happens overnight. "It always takes time," the source stated.