President general of Oilfields Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) Ancil Roget says the union feels "gratified" and "vindicated" by Public Utilities Minister Emmanuel George's decision to investigate allegations of corruption at Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC). Roget said George's statement on the probe into procurement practices at T&TEC and, in particular, the Street Lighting Implementation Unit, was welcomed by the union. "Since September 2008, the union has consistently raised the issue as urgent because it involved alleged breaches of integrity and ethics by persons responsible for running a key state enterprise," the labour leader said.
"The flouting of T&TEC's procurement procedures had become routine and perpetrators justified their actions on the altar of expediency."
He made statements about a senior official being involved in both the Tenders and Contracts Committee and the Audit Committee. He said the long list of abuses revealed by the minister at the post-Cabinet news conference exposed a level of contempt for proper procedures.
Roget is questioning:
1. The breaking up of contracts into smaller portions to avoid board oversight.
2. The circumvention of the competitive tendering process in order to facilitate direct purchases from preferred suppliers.
3. The changing of specifications after the tendering process to favour particular suppliers.
4. The undermining of the board's oversight capability with regard to procurement in T&TEC.
5. Goods and services were being supplied before purchase orders had been completed.
Roget wants these issues referred to Attorney General Anand Ramlogan for further investigation.
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These procurement issues took place during the term of office of the previous administration. A report was reportedly commissioned by then utilities minister Mustapha Abdul-Hamid. But current minister, Emmanuel George, said he had not been able to locate any record of the report being forwarded to the Attorney General by his predecessor. Roget has called on Abdul-Hamid to clarify the matter.