Gopeesingh: All EFCL members to resign

In a media statement yesterday, the Caroni East MP noted that Piggott’s resignation had come in the wake of, “Serious allegations of corruption, big rigging, abuse of office, squander and worker victimisation.” “Details of these include the fixing of million-dollar contracts to favour cronies of the PNM; disbarring certain previous contractors, re-opening closed tenders, misuse of funds, awarding a deal in excess of $50 million to a contractor who scored the lowest in the evaluation process and overall abuse of the public’s trust,” Gopeesingh claimed.

He said the remaining directors had, “No moral authority to continue to cling onto public office in the face of these extensive and shocking revelations which, if substantiated by the audit that is currently being undertaken by the Ministry of Finance and Attorney General, point to misconduct, illegal activities and gross misbehaviour in public life.” “As such, to preserve the integrity of the aforementioned Government-commissioned investigations, as well as the ongoing viability of the EFCL, the directors must immediately step down or be summarily fired,” he stated.

He said Education Minister Anthony Garcia and Junior Education Minister Dr Lovell Francis, to whom the EFCL Board of Directors reports, should also be held responsible.

“As the public officers with ministerial responsibility for EFCL, the buck stops with Mr Garcia and Dr Francis,” he stated.