21 hours ago
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Former housing minister and Member of Parliament Camille Robinson-Regis has raised concerns over the proposed award of $3.4 billion in public housing contracts to 11 contractors, questioning the transparency and legality of the process.
In a media release issued today, Robinson-Regis said the awards had “raised serious concerns about transparency, legality, and the government’s commitment to providing homes in Trinidad and Tobago.”
She said what should have been “a straightforward, competitive, and transparent procurement process appears hidden behind secrecy,” citing what she described as questionable prequalification criteria, the exclusion of experienced local builders, and possible breaches of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act.
According to the release, the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) prequalified 28 contractors sometime last year to bid for design-build-finance services for housing projects across Trinidad.
Robinson-Regis said the HDC selected “three arbitrary line items from the OPR depository” as the basis for prequalification.
By early 2026, she said, the list was reduced to 18 contractors, who were invited to site visits at selected locations before being asked to submit tender proposals. Following an evaluation process, 11 contractors were selected.
She said a standstill notice was issued on April 9, allowing 10 working days for challenges.
Robinson-Regis noted that only Mootilal Ramhit & Sons had previous experience in the housing sector, while the other 10 contractors had no prior work with the HDC.
“These include a group of doctors, a steel contractor, a hardware supplier, and California Stucco operating in Tobago,” the release stated.
She argued that the process had bypassed contractors with proven housing experience and criticised what she described as a lack of public disclosure.
“The process was conducted in secret, lacking any posting on the HDC website or inclusion in the 2025-2026 Annual Procurement Plan,” Robinson-Regis said.
She also questioned the length of the standstill period, saying the 10-day window was “well below the accepted practice of 15-20 working days to allow for proper challenge, especially given the magnitude of these projects.”
“That is not a minor oversight, it undermines the very safeguard designed to ensure fairness, accountability, and the right to contest,” she said.
Robinson-Regis further raised concerns over what she said was the absence of information on project sites, housing designs, delivery timelines and other key details.
“There is no disclosure of project sites, housing designs, or delivery timelines, nothing to show the public what $3.4 billion is actually buying,” she said.
She added that thousands of citizens remained on the housing waiting list while near-complete developments remained idle.
Robinson-Regis said it may have been more prudent to restart projects such as Citrus Close, Carlsen Field, Bon Air or Edinburgh Towers, which she said could be completed faster and at a lower cost.
“The people of Trinidad and Tobago deserve transparency, accountability, and results, not uncertainty, exclusion, and the very real possibility of billions spent without a single house to show for it,” she said.
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