Two days after four employees of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC) appeared in court on fraud charges, municipal police yesterday had to stop a meeting in which one of the accused was allegedly a participant, after three of the accused still reported for duty.
Following that meeting at the CTTRC's technical building, it was reported that Fraud Squad investigators returned to the Railway Road, Couva compound.
CTTRC chairman, Henry Awong, told the T&T Guardian last night that those who showed up yesterday: County superintendent Maniram Mohess and engineer Barry Samaroo will report to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development's Port-of-Spain office today, while checker Ian Gokool was sent on leave by CTTRC acting CEO Charmaine Dookie.
The trio, along with CEO Carol Dyal, appeared before Port-of-Spain Magistrate Christine Charles on Monday, charged with conspiring to defraud the CTTRC of $149,500. The charges relate to a contract awarded for the installation of outdoor exercise equipment at the San Pablo Recreation Ground and the Todd's Road Activity Centre.
Businessman Mahase Sookai is also an accused in the matter. They are scheduled to reappear in the Couva Magistrate Court tomorrow.
But Independent Liberal Party (ILP) alderman, Sunil Ramjitsingh, was upset the employees had been allowed to return to work yesterday, saying it is standard practice in the public service that when officers are on criminal charges in relation to their conduct in office, those officers are immediately placed on suspension pending the outcome of the court matter.
In a joint statement, Ramjitsingh, fellow ILP alderman, Beeran Rambaran, and People's National Movement councillor Alif Mohammed, said: "It is preposterous and insane that officers against whom criminal charges are pending should be allowed to freely roam through controlled areas of the CTTRC and to handle documents that have evidential potential."
Speaking by telephone, Ramjitsingh said workers alerted them that the employees were not only on the compound but were holding a meeting with co-workers.
He said workers left the meeting traumatised as they felt threatened after they were told their jobs could be in jeopardy and police could return to arrest more of them.
The councillors said they contacted the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development office, permanent secretary, Awong and Dookie, but the worker allegedly refused to stop the meeting and continued to issue instructions to the workers. The meeting was eventually stopped by a municipal police officer around 1 pm.
At the last statutory meeting, opposition representatives at the CTTRC raised a motion for the reconciliation of construction materials, concerned that substantial amounts were pilfered. The motion was approved by the council but with the accused allegedly interfering in that process, they now believe it is tainted.
Awong: Reflects
on us badly
CTTRC chairman Awong, who spent yesterday at his Tabaquite office, said yesterday that the accused workers claimed that they were not given any directive by the Dookie or the Public Service Commission to refrain from entering the compound or reporting for duty yesterday.
He said after the matter was raised by their colleagues, Gobin was subsequently advised by the permanent secretary that Samaroo and Mohess should report to the ministry. He said she also then suspended Gokool based on her authority in the collective agreement. Dyal proceeded on vacation leave a month ago.
Awong said he had asked for a report on the accused employees to be submitted.
"They came out to work today and I understand that they went to the CEO's office and were awaiting her instructions. She was not there, she was in a meeting in Port-of-Spain this morning.
"When I spoke to her, she said she was going to ask the officers to report to her office until she comes. She told me that when she came down, they were at her office awaiting her," Awong said.
He said people did not differentiate the role of the CTTRC's administration and the council, so everything that wens wrong there reflected badly on the elected candidates. He said as chairman he could not instruct any employees but only request information from the CEO.
He said the latest developments were unhealthy and showed the CTTRC in a "bad light".
"There are honest, hard working employees right now who are demoralised and demotivated. Operations at the corporations will almost grind to a halt now because the acting CEO is new and I am hoping that she can recover and put things in place to have the goods and services that the burgesses depend on from us not be hindered in any way," Awong added.