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CCNTV6
  • 5 months ago
Unbothered by the legal threat, the Public Utilities Minister says the courts are open to everyone, as the Opposition moves to challenge the CEPEP terminations.

Tv6's Nicole M Romany reports.
Transcript
00:00Minister of Public Utilities, Barry Podarath, says the decision to terminate all CPEP contracts was not made in haste.
00:09He tells the TV6 Morning Edition that the move was carefully considered to ensure affected contractors would receive support
00:17through the Ministry of the People and Social Development, along with one month's salary in July as a buffer.
00:24According to the Minister, this arrangement will remain in place until contractors can be properly registered.
00:31As for the PNM's threat of legal action, Podarath maintained that the courts are opened to anyone who wishes to seek redress.
00:39The courts of Trinidad and Tobago are always available to all the people of Trinidad and Tobago,
00:45and I will not reflect on any litigation that may come except to say that is part of our process,
00:52and that is the law of the land.
00:54And if persons feel aggrieved and they feel that an injustice has been done to them legally,
00:59they can seek redress in the courts.
01:02Minister Podarath explains that numerous anomalies and irregularities were uncovered within CPEP's operations,
01:09prompting the need for urgent reform.
01:12He points to the absence of regular audits and flagged instances of alleged corruption
01:17as key reasons for the sweeping termination of contracts.
01:21Particularly what we have found, many companies did not comply as it relates to NIS,
01:28and therefore they were charging employees NIS, but they were not paying and registering the NIS with the NIB.
01:36And those are some of the, in terms of workers' protection, that we have to look at.
01:40With respect to the dismissal of the WASA chief executive officer and the central bank governor,
01:46Minister Podarath says the public can expect answers in due course.
01:51He says he expects a legal challenge, and anything said at this time can be used for or against the state in litigation.
02:00It was not a case of docking and running, and not wanting to be answerable to the people of Trinidad and Tebeira.
02:05I'm giving them the assurance this morning that there will come the time when the government will answer on these matters,
02:10but our first duty to them is to protect the taxpayer and not prejudice the matters.
02:15Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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