Probe ordered into gov't contracts awarded to alleged gang leaders in T&T
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC- Minister of Rural Development and Local Government says an expansive audit will be conducted into the multi-million dollar contracts given to seven reputed gang leaders at two government-controlled corporations.
In a media release, Kazim Hosein signalled his intention to have the matter properly investigated.
His decision came just hours after the Trinidad Guardian newspaper published a report which highlighted the details of a confidential Special Branch report which named seven reputed gang leaders who benefitted from multi-million dollar state contracts from the Diego Martin Regional Corporation and the Port-of-Spain Corporation.
The information contained in a confidential report prepared in mid-May forms part of a Guardian Media investigation, just one-week after Police Commissioner, Gary Griffith, blamed the State for placing funds in the hands of gang leaders.
Griffith warned that the practice had fuelled gang wars and contributed to an upsurge in homicides over the last 15 years.
Hosein said he viewed the “allegations very seriously and intends to address them as a matter of urgency.”
He said the auditors from his ministry are scheduled “to commence an investigation as a matter of urgency, at all corporations” and “CEOs have already been contacted to provide support and cooperation to our internal audit unit.”
Hosein says once the audit is completed he expects a report to be submitted to his office by the end of August.
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