Ani­ka Gumbs-San­di­ford

There is no ev­i­dence so far sug­gest­ing that State funds have been used in the con­struc­tion of the con­tro­ver­sial Light­house of Our Lord Je­sus Christ Church at the Heights of Gua­napo in Ari­ma. The lat­est rev­e­la­tion comes in the wake of the van­dal­is­ing of the church now un­der in­ves­ti­ga­tion fol­low­ing al­le­ga­tions that doc­u­ments linked for­mer prime min­is­ter, Patrick Man­ning and the church. "Up un­til now there is no proof sug­gest­ing that State funds were used to con­struct the church," said an in­ves­ti­ga­tor. "Where is the proof?" the in­ves­ti­ga­tor asked.

"The last thing we knew is that a cer­tain or­gan­i­sa­tion by Ju­liana Pe­na was leas­ing the land to build the church. Noth­ing has changed, there is no proof; none to sug­gest that State funds were used to build that church," the in­ves­ti­ga­tor added. Sun­day Guardian fur­ther learnt that a brief sub­mit­ted by Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bis­seassar al­leged­ly link­ing Man­ning and the Ur­ban De­vel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion of T&T to the church is still be­ing scru­ti­nised by the DPP's of­fice for ev­i­dence. At­tempts to con­tact DPP Roger Gas­pard to con­firm the lat­est de­vel­op­ment proved fu­tile up to late last night.