Principal takes TTUTA president to court

The contention is made in a pre-action protocol letter which principal Joy Arjoon-Singh served on Doodhai on Monday and which her attorneys called on him to retract the statement and pay compensation or answer to a lawsuit.

Arjoon-Singh’s attorneys Roopnarine & Company, sent the pre-action letter in which it referred to the TTUTA president’s press conference held in Curepe and which allegedly mentioned the purchase by the school, of 16 cameras which cost $87,000. Allegations were also made, the letter stated, about the manner in which the tendering process was conducted in relation to three companies that were asked to purchase the cameras. Reference was also made to the expenditure for upgrade of a lawn tennis court at the school to the tune of $50,000.

The pre-action letter referred to a call that was allegedly made by TTUTA for the Ministry of Education to conduct an investigation into the purchase and that the only way for it to be done independently, is to have Arjoon-Singh removed from the school as principal. She views the statement as slanderous as well as TTUTA’s calls for an investigation into the upgrade of the school’s gym. The principal contended that the remarks relating to allegations made against her, were posted on Facebook and on YouTube. Her attorneys copied the letter to Minister of Education Anthony Garcia in which they stated that the words spoken gave the impression that Arjoon-Singh had misappropriated public funds and had committed a criminal action.

It calls for an immediate retraction and public apology to the principal and for payment to her of a reasonable sum as compensation within 21 days.