CEPEP goes to Local Government

Following Thursday’s weekly Cabinet meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley instructed that CEPEP be reassigned from the Public Utilities Ministry to the Rural Development and Local Government Ministry.

A statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister which announced the decision to reassign CEPEP, said it was Government’s intention to eventually disaggregate the budget allocation for CEPEP between the Rural Development and Local Government Ministry and the Works and Transport Ministry.

When CEPEP was first launched under Manning in the 2002 to 2007 period, it was assigned to the Works and Transport Ministry.

Rural Development and Local Government Minister Franklin Khan initially headed that ministry at the time.

Over the last five years under the former People’s Partnership (PP), different components of CEPEP were divided amongst the Office of the Prime Minister, Local Government Ministry, Works Ministry, Housing Ministry and the Food Production Ministry.

In response to claims made by its former line minister Dr Roodal Moonilal, CEPEP in a newspaper advertisement said its management has discovered a misappropriation of $39.6 million of CEPEP funds spent on construction projects in the Oropouche East constituency, which is represented in Parliament by Moonilal. The company said, “This illegal spending contributed to more than ten percent of the CEPEP company’s $300 million debt inherited by the current board and management.”