Akash Samaroo
Senior Reporter
akash.samaroo@cnc3.co.tt
The Minister of Rural Development and Local Government denies that he is ignoring pleas from the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation to address financial issues that are said to be affecting residents.
He said the concerns have been forwarded to his Permanent Secretary.
On Friday, chairman Kenwyn Phillip listed several challenges arising from what he called a failure by Central Government to release certain funds since the beginning of the financial year in 2023.
“We don’t have funding for the purchase of road-building material, we are in the fifth month of this financial year, and we have not received a cent. We don’t have funding for the market and abattoirs, we don’t have funding for local health authority’s materials and supplies. We don’t have funding for recreation grounds, we have seventy-something facilities that fall under the corporation and we have an allocation of $75,000 and it is the fifth month and we have not received a cent,” Phillip said.
“We don’t have money to purchase stationery. We have applied for $200,000, I was told by the Financial Officer that they only got half of the money and that can’t do anything. I don’t have ink, paper, nothing to send out letters. I don’t have stamps for council members.”
Phillip revealed that the only money they receive is to pay salaries.
He said he tried several times to contact both the ministers of Finance and Local Government but without success. Regarding reaching out to Minister Faris Al-Rawi, Phillip claimed, “I have been trying to call the minister too and all calls went unanswered. I would have sent him a WhatsApp asking for his email address.”
Phillip said the situation was dire as some corporation vehicles, even those used to clear drains and repair landslips, are useless due to a lack of funds to maintain them.
He questioned if there was a sinister motive behind what was happening.
“We are running a corporation on zero, and I am asking if this is the agenda to make the council members look bad because we are elected to serve people, and I am begging and pleading on behalf of all the people of Sangre Grande to get the necessary releases that were allocated to the corporation so we can deliver goods and services to the people,” Phillip added.
Meanwhile, Al-Rawi said he received no calls from Phillip. However, he did added, “I have forwarded enquiries to the Permanent Secretary for immediate response.”
He told Guardian Media a response may not come until tomorrow.
“I will need to get the responses from our public servants in the accounts and other divisions as they will report on requests and responses. They will also respond on the issue of virements from head to head which is how shortfalls are sometimes alternatively managed. As you will appreciate, receiving your enquiries on Saturday afternoon gives no reasonable opportunity for the inquiries to be addressed by the public servants notwithstanding my request today for an urgent reply,” Al-Rawi said.
Speaking later in the day with Guardian Media, Phillip shared screenshots showing that he did call Al-Rawi on January 4 without success and messaged him via WhatsApp in October 2023 requesting Al-Rawi’s email address. Those messages went unanswered.