UDP calls for details of equipment sale

As befits the month before town board elections, Representative Finnegan and the UDP have also been attacking the Government on other fronts: notably the recent purchase of equipment by the Ministry of Works for projects in the Toledo District. According to a UDP release, Finnegan requested on January twenty-fourth that Government provide him with the details of the purchase agreement with Gentrac under which Government told the press it borrowed from the company eight million dollars at eight percent interest over eight years to buy the Caterpillar equipment. Two weeks later Finnegan says he received a reply from the Ministry of Finance informing him that to disclose the details of the letter of agreement would be a breach of confidence toward its lending institution. Today, citing the Freedom of Information Act as well as the PUP manifesto, the UDP is demanding that the information be provided and announced its intention to seek redress in the Supreme Court. According to Finnegan “if disclosure of the letter of agreement is a breach of confidence, then why wasn’t Government’s initial announcement of eight million at eight percent for eight years also a breach of confidence?” Presumably, the UDP believes that the true terms of the deal are significantly less favourable to Government than what it has announced to the public.