GM: Millons spent at CEPEP under PP

GOVERNMENT Senator Garvin Simonette was on Monday “perplexed” about how million-dollar contracts were awarded to the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) for work it was not supposed to be doing.

At a public hearing between members of the State Enterprises Joint Select Committee and CEPEP officials, Simonette said this happened in 2012-2015, under the People’s Partnership (PP) government. He observed the sums ranged from $121,900 to “as high as $5 million.”

Documents before the committee also showed some major construction companies were involved.

Recalling that CEPEP was created in 2002, its general manager Keith Eddy said part of the company’s mandate was to be an environmental business incubator.

But he indicated that under the PP, “a Cabinet note had added to the mandate to do both project management and construction projects.”

Eddy said that included constructing box drains, a community centre and repairs to some health facilities.

He said the latter was called the health sector initiative (HSI). While he saw the Cabinet note, Eddy said CEPEP’s paperwork did not have any board resolutions, approvals or reports “that speaks to that change.”

He said in 2016, CEPEP reverted to its original mandate “which speaks to the environmental policy.”

CEPEP chairman Ashton Ford supported Eddy, adding that Cabinet had not instructed CEPEP to engage in the expanded mandate it had under the PP.

Eddy said matters which took place from 2012-2015 were currently before the court. He confirmed Simonette’s observation that CEPEP had legal fees of $2.6 million and said the majority of those fees were related to the HSI.

The HSI, he said, also factored into the company’s debt of $142,842,427.

Ford said all of those were “legacy matters” left behind by the PP.

Eddy said CEPEP had engaged a quantity surveyor to ensure that money was paid in 2012-2015 for work which was actually done.

Social Development Minister Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn questioned why approximately $100 million was spent by CEPEP on work in Penal, Debe and Barrackpore in this period. In response, Eddy said there was nothing special about work done in these areas.

Ford said CEPEP collaborated closely with the Works and Transport Ministry and regional corporations. But he lamented that CEPEP did not get enough assistance from the ministry’s Highways Division in clearing debris from major roadways.

Eddy said CEPEP had helped some of its workers to transition into the cocoa industry.

He disclosed that CEPEP would soon host a workshop with other agencies to give workers an opportunity to transition into other jobs over time.

Eddy also said CEPEP was looking at having an incineration facility of its own, explaining it would be useful when CEPEP crews needed to dispose of the bodies of dead animals on roadways. Previously, he said those corpses were incinerated at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mt Hope.