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“Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
That was the key message from David Abdulah, leader of the Movement for Social Justice, as he addressed the June 27 dismissal of all contractors under the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep).
Contractors were handed termination letters at the company’s head office on Factory Road in St Madeleine, effective immediately. The decision left an estimated 360 contractors and more than 10,500 workers unemployed.
Speaking at a Zoom media conference on July 7, Abdulah explained he delayed commenting on the matter to avoid having his remarks overshadowed by coverage of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit.
“Let me repeat what I said then using this analogy: if we think of the bathwater as dirty, that is, corruption and nepotism in the awarding of contracts, then yes, there is cause for concern,” Abdulah said.
He expressed no doubt such practices had occurred, as he said it had with past governments, including between 2010 and 2015, when Kamla Persad-Bissessar was also prime minister.
“This kind of favouritism and alleged corruption in the use of state resources to reward friends, family, and political financiers is nothing new.”
However, Abdulah stressed not all Cepep contractors engaged in wrongdoing, saying it is unfair to accuse all contractors without clear evidence. He hopes the government, or the soon-to-be-appointed Cepep board, will release an investigative report with the "hard facts."
“We don’t know how many of the 300-plus contractors were improperly awarded contracts.”
Abdulah believed the real issue was how the decision was made, warning bad processes usually lead to bad outcomes.
"The immediate termination of all contractors without a clear process was a mistake,” Abdulah said.
He noted the impact the decisions would have on workers, many of whom he said relied on their July and August income to prepare for the new school year. Despite the government’s promise each contractor would receive one month’s pay to cover their employees, he said this should have been communicated promptly to reduce anxiety.
“Losing that income causes great worry for families, especially with school expenses looming. This should have been taken into account before the decision was announced.”
Abdulah suggested the government should have first appointed a new Cepep board to audit all contracts. Then, a new transparent registration process should start in September, allowing both existing and new contractors to apply based on clear criteria.
“This would promote transparency, fairness, and public confidence and help end the nepotism and corruption that have plagued contract awards in the past.”
The post MSJ: Transparent probe should have been done before Cepep firings appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.