No politics in probe

THE Urban Development Corporation of TT (Udecott) said no politics is involved in the suspension of four employees regarding a matter concerning the Couva Adult and Children’s Hospital.

In a statement Tuesday, Udecott said it was unfortunate that a daily newspaper (not Newsday) seemingly created that impression in an article it published last Sunday.

Udecott regretted that the names of private citizens were thrown into the public domain and aspersions were cast against them. The company reiterated its investigation into this matter is “by no means an investigation driven or influenced by personality or political relationships.”

Udecott said it acts in observance of the law and good industrial relations practices. The company said it received a complaint from the incumbent contractor which had been doing landscaping at the hospital. This contractor had been awarded a contract to do landscaping at the hospital “since or about January 2017.”

The contractor was denied entry to the facility on September 6. Udecott said the contractor was unaware a new landscaping contract had been awarded. The contractor was surprised by these events and did not receive a new invitation to tender for landscaping.

Udecott said standard procedure in these matters is to investigate and report on all complaints. Saying this situation was no different, Udecott said,” Upon management’s investigation of the complaint and of the process, it became apparent that in addition to issues of a failure to provide notice to the incumbent contractor, there were potential issues of collusion and an attempt to thwart the procurement process.”

As a result, four employees each received a letter between September 6 and 10.

These letters requested they submit a report and proceed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal investigation into the award of contract on September 5, for the provision of landscaping services at the hospital. UDeCOTT said the process invoked is “governed by established good industrial relations practices and tenets of natural justice, in order to conduct a fair and thorough investigation that is transparent and without interference.”