Community organisations seeking state funds will not get any if they do not provide proper accountability, says Minister in the Ministry of the Environment Ramona Ramdial.
Ramdial was responding to claims that there was a freeze on the release of money from the Green Fund to some organisations.
Turtle protection groups in Toco and Matelot claimed last week that they did not receive funding this year even though the turtle nesting season was officially launched last week.
Ramdial, in a telephone interview yesterday, said the funds would be released once the organisations met the necessary criteria.
"We have hundreds of applicants. Before a group qualifies, it must be registered as a community group and should be actively existing for a number of years." She said to access the fund a meticulous process must be followed and if organisations did not adhere to the rules, monies would be denied. She also said proper accountability was mandatory.
"If groups have not accessed financing, it means that the paperwork is not in order. Once we are satisfied that the organisation has met all checks and balances we will release funds," Ramdial said.
She also urged members of the public to continue to protect the turtles.
"We want the public to exercise proper preservation and respect the nesting season. We will continue to do what we can to protect the endangered species." She said two years ago, the Government expanded the team of game wardens to more than 150. She said a partnership was formed with the Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Food Production, WASA estate police and other groups to save the turtles from poachers.
Saying there was a decrease in illegal hunting, Ramdial said there were plans to hire 100 additional environmental police officers to patrol the nesting grounds.
Last week during the launch of turtle season, Ramdial said over $38 million from the Green Fund had been allocated to organisations for sea turtle protection/conservation activities over the past three years.
Turtle Village Trust got the largest chunk with over $29 million for its National Sea Turtle Conservation project which started on March 5, 2013, and is scheduled to be completed on July 31.
The Green Fund also approved funding for the Turtle Village Trust to expand its conservation programme of monitoring the four major nesting sites–at Grand Rivie?re, Matura, Fishing Pond and Turtle beach in Tobago–to incorporate 12 additional beaches in Trinidad and seven beaches in Tobago.
A total of 23 community groups have been trained in conservation, data collection, and turtle tagging. Ramdial said the scientific information generated was expected to guide the Government in shaping policies.
Five of the world's seven species of sea turtles nest on local beaches. These include leatherback, hawksbill, green, loggerhead and the olive ridley.
The Green Fund is the national environmental fund. The Miscellaneous Taxes Act � Chapter 77:01 Part XIV says the purpose of the fund is to provide financial assistance to community groups and organisations for activities related to reforestation, remediation, environmental education and public awareness, and conservation of the environment. Remediation is the remedying and restoring of the functional capacity of an environmental resource damaged by natural or man-made causes.