Dr Mary King's sacking was expected and it was one in which Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had no choice but to carry it out. King, the former minister of Planning, Economic and Social Restructuring and Gender Affairs, was fired by Persad-Bissessar yesterday, after it was alleged that King had family ties to Ixanos Ltd, a software engineering company which won a $100,000 Government Web site development contract from her ministry last November. And King's axing, according to chairman of the PNM Franklin Khan, was a terrible blow to the Government. Khan said there was "no way" that King could have got away with being sacked because it was a predicament she brought upon herself. Khan was spoke to the media yesterday after a luncheon hosted by the Port-of-Spain Rotary Club at Goodwill Industries. Fitzblackman Drive, off Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.
"King was obviously in breach of Section 29, (1) and (2) of the Integrity in Public Life Act and the Integrity Commission has said that it would launch an investigation and they are the rightful people to so do to see if there are any prosecurial aspects to the matter," Khan said. King also served as head of Transparency International of T&T. Khan said he was not surprised by the swift action taken by Persad-Bissessar adding: "The way this thing unfolded in the public domain the Prime Minister had no other choice but to act swiftly." He said the Government's reputation was "now obviously tarnished," pointing out that it was the People's Partnership that brought down the PNM on allegations of corruption. "Granted this is still a small quantum of money, but the principle is still intact, that is the real gist of the matter," Khan said.