SOME lecturers and students at the University of the West Indies UWI, St. Augustine, want Prime Minister Patrick Manning to clear the air on reports that Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica did not support the re-appointment of Dr. Bhoe Tewarie as principal of the campus.

Manning must also say whether his Government was trying to put pressure on the Council of the University of the West Indies not to renew the contract of Dr. Tewarie as pro-vice chancellor.

Dr. Tewarie’s contract was renewed for four years instead of five, which was given to him on the first occasion in 2001.

The council is chaired by banker Michael Mansoor, executive chairman of the Barbados-based First Caribbean International Bank.

A statement by the office of the vice-chancellor on Wednesday said the council of the university had agreed to renew the contract of Dr. Tewarie for another four years.

It said the decision culminated a process agreed to at a meeting of the university in April, for assessment and re-appointment of executive leaders of the university.

The process, the statement noted, involved input from constituents and stakeholders of the university, using objective, structured performance indicators.

After receipt, review and summarisation of this input, and with the concurrence of the chancellor, the matter is presented to the university council for review and approval, the statement said.

According to a report Manning was supported by his close friend, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller not to have Dr. Tewarie re-appointed.

Manning was not happy with the operation of the St. Augustine campus and had spoken about the presence of “politicians masquerading as lecturers” during a function of the National Association for the Empowerment of African Peoples (NAEAP) headed by US-based Professor Selwyn Cudjoe.
Sources said Cudjoe was among two lecturers who this government was supporting to replace Dr. Tewarie.

One source said if Dr. Tewarie was not given another contract some critics would have said “another Indian bites the dust.” Dr. Tewarie, a former executive director of the UWI Institute of Business, was appointed as principal of UWI in July 2001.