Former Haitian President, Michel Martelly, said that he is certain there was " theft" and "embezzlement" of PetroCaribe funds during his time in office
Posted by Lenouvelliste on Friday, February 9, 2018 Under: Corruptions
It is a quiet and calm Michel Martelly who made these statements on Thursday, February 1, 2018, on the program Mise au point, hosted by Serginho Lindor on the National Television of Haiti and which is also available on the Net. Since being knocked out at carnivals in Gonaïves and Jacmel, the singer of the group of Sweet Micky and former President of the Republic undertook a tour in the media of the capital to denounce the "political" nature of these decisions.
Asked about the PetroCaribe issue, Michel Joseph Martelly did not turn around the bush or uttered insanities. He said that everyone who has managed the money should be held accountable. "For what is happening in the PetroCaribe file, I'm sure there are people who have stolen, whether at the state level or at the private sector level," he said on the get go while trying to clear the private sector. "We can not blame the private sector, when under a contract it overloads you. It's your business if you agree to pay it, " he said. But like his dolphin Jovenel Moise, he does not want to leave this file in the hands of senators.
"Have there been thieves? Yes, there were some. Have there been honest people? Yes there was. Have the thieves already been identified? I can not even say that Parliament can do this job, " says Michel Martelly, who has asked himself all these questions. The former president, who for the first time tackles this issue without making a joke, recalls that there are competent bodies such as the ULCC, the UCREF and the Superior Court of Auditors, which must intervene in this kind of situation.
PetroCaribe Corruption report sent to court of Auditor after unannounced Senate session. Two members of the court are accused in the report
"Parliament is a political assembly," says Michel Joseph Martelly, saying it can not investigate the management of former state officials. If parliamentarians become judges, it will simply be the idea of eliminating their political opponents, he said. All that is being done in Parliament is only "bargaining," according to him.
Although he admits that there have been "drifts", Michel Martelly blames the parliamentarians for not having advanced so far evidence in support of the charges against any member of his team. "They just indexed people," he says. With regard to uncompleted projects, he invited parliamentarians to look for reasons. "It's not because a project is not finished that there is a problem. Some projects are not finished either because the money has disappeared, or has been stolen or maybe it's because the company has abandoned the site, "tries to explain Michel Joseph
Martelly, calling on the state to sue the companies in question.
He calls on senators to provide proof of their accusations. According to him, it is also necessary to specify the amounts which were disbursed under René Préval and those which were disbursed under his administration so as not to make amalgam or bias. My administration has not committed more than $ 600 million in projects, certifies Michel Joseph Martelly, who says he is in favor of all those who are concerned with the management of these funds under his administration are accountable.
The survey on the management of PetroCaribe funds was initiated by Senator Youri Latortue, who was Michel Martelly's adviser before his re-election in 2015. "Politics remains politics," the former president says, adding that Senator of the Artibonite who was still with him in his office had never submitted a list of people suspected of stealing PetroCaribe's money. "You can say that someone is a thief if you are in the habit of stealing with him or if you catch him in the act," he said to Youri Latortue as a small jab. He made room for the parliamentarian to keep a low profile when he began to talk about the management of the former Senate office. "In Parliament, they talked about a crisis just the other day, its already choked" he quipped.
Haitian Senate for the fourth time, postpones vote on PetroCaribe Corruption report
Seventeen Senators from the majority bloc requested in a resolution to the Superior Court of Audit and Administrative Disputes to conduct an extensive audit, analysis and review of the management of PetroCaribe funds over the period from September 2008 to September 2016 ". Several former Prime Ministers, Ministers and Directors General who served under René Préval and under Michel Martelly are pinned in both versions of the report.
In : Corruptions
