Al-Rawi says just one police report on CEPEP under his watch

Senior Reporter

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Former minister of Rural Development and Local Government Faris Al-Rawi, is pushing back against claims by the Government that the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) was being used to finance criminal activity.

Al-Rawi dismissed suggestions that CEPEP and the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) functioned as criminal empires under the People’s National Movement (PNM), as implied by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. He noted that during the People’s Partnership administration from 2010 to 2015, CEPEP operated with even larger budgets, citing a $726 million allocation between 2014 and 2015, compared to $358 million under the PNM. However, he did not clarify the timeframe for the PNM figure.

On the issue of criminal links, Al-Rawi said that during his time as line minister, he received just one report from the TTPS about CEPEP, tied to the beneficial ownership laws introduced by the PNM to identify the true owners of companies.

“I received one report from the police as to a questionable issue coming from beneficial ownership law, which I introduced … and that was referred quickly for action.”

He stressed there were no other police reports during his tenure and stood by the integrity of CEPEP’s procurement process.

Turning to the ongoing State of Emergency (SoE), which was extended with Opposition support on Monday, Al-Rawi hinted that the controversial LifeSport scandal may have influenced the decision to declare the SoE—not just rising crime. He pointed to the relocation of former LifeSport programme co-ordinator Rajaee Ali from the Maximum Security Prison to an army base, as the top cop revealed a plot to destabilise the country carried out by “kingpins” behind the prison walls.

He further referenced a High Court ruling which held the former board of the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago responsible for $34 million paid to EBeam Interact Ltd on advice of the Ministry of Sport.

“The minister was Anil Roberts. He’s still in the Government, now a Government minister again.”

Al-Rawi added that former minister of finance Colm Imbert has been transparent about CEPEP’s operations, and reiterated the Opposition’s call for all concerns about criminal activity to be properly investigated.

Meanwhile, Al-Rawi also rejected what he called a manufactured narrative of corruption, claiming it was being driven by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, whom he accused of having a personal vendetta due to matters Al-Rawi referred to the police during his tenure.

“Let me state plainly that I, certainly as the last minister that served with responsibility for CEPEP, never spoke to the renewal of en masse contracts. I did, together with the Minister of Finance, Vishnu Dhanpaul, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Suzette Lee Chee, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, Mr Peter Mitchell, speak to the funding for 12 CEPEP contractors.”