CEPEP chair: No politics in hiring Cro Cro

Weston Rawlins, calypsonian Cro Cro, still has his job and will be paid his $10,000 salary despite being suspended, chairman of the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) Ashton Ford said yesterday.

At a press conference at CEPEP’s headquarters in Ste Madeleine, Ford said. “We cannot just fire someone. Where is the justice? Why deny a citizen if he seems to be politically aligned?”

“Rawlins will remain an employee until the investigation is completed,” Ford said.

On the call from Princes Town MP Barry Padarath for Cro Cro to be dismissed, Ford said industrial relations mandates that the person be given a fair chance.

Cro Cro’s conduct came into question when a video showing him shouting obscene language at another driver while at the wheel of a CEPEP vehicle, went viral. The video showed someone asking Cro Cro to get off his cellphone. In response, he can be heard using obscenities and saying he was Cro Cro and owned a Mercedes-Benz E350.

Ford also defended the process used to hire Rawlins, saying he got his job because he answered a newspaper advertisement and was interviewed by a panel for the job of regional co-ordinator. He met the requirements and was eventually hired.

A problem in this country, Ford said, is that once identified as a party member or supporter, some people feel an individuall is not entitled to get the job in any state enterprise or government service company.

“Nothing is wrong with people who are PNM supporters, getting contracts with CEPEP," he said.

Ford said, Cro Cro passed his probationary period and got good reports from his supervisor.

In comparison to the "good work" that Cro Cro was doing at CEPEP, Ford said under the previous administration in 2010, calypsonian Edwin Ayoung (Crazy) was hired by CEPEP as a consultant receiving a wage of $8,000.

“His position was independent consultant and he determined the method, manner and means in which his services should be performed,” Ford outlined. Crazy, he said, was not given a fixed time in which to do his job.

Ford said in 2010 over 100 contractors were unceremoniously dismissed along with several field officers. “These people had families but they were sent home.” Ford said. Those who were hired in 2010, he said, worked till 2018.

He noted that while Cro Cro sang in favour of the PNM, Crazy sang in favour of the UNC.Both singers held jobs with state-owned companies.