Rohan on Licensing bust: There are more files

WORKS and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan has responded to the recent arrest of licensing officials and said that there are more files before the Commissioner of Police.

He was speaking with the media Wednesday following the concrete pouring for the construction of the Guaico Licensing Office in Sangre Grande.

He reported over the last three years there was a programme to fully computerise Licensing Office.

"(Through) that exercise we uncovered a lot of things that we considered to be unethical and we felt, based on our preliminary investigations, that we should forward these files to the Commissioner of Police...and they would do their investigations and take whatever actions that they felt that they had to do and were required.

"What we see happening now is a result of some of the files that we sent to the Commissioner of Police over the last...two years. And we have sent more files so we expect that if they find anything that warrants their input they will take action on it."

Asked if he was concerned about the operations of Licensing Division in light of the arrests Sinanan said he was not. He said the Transport Commissioner is on board with what steps have to be taken.

"At this point in time something has to be done about the unethical practices at Licensing Office. We have been hearing about it for years. When I said sometime ago that we will do what we have to do to clean up Licensing Office I don't think anybody believed that if could have happened. So we are sticking to what we have to do at the Ministry of Works and we are allowing the law to take its course."

Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jayson Forde yesterday said that licensing officials arrested during the end of investigations were concentrated to the Port of Spain office.

Speaking at the weekly media briefing yesterday, Forde did not give much information on the raid which saw nine people arrested. The arrests came one month after Sinanan vowed to “clean up” corruption at the Licensing Division.

The nine include two licensing officials, an employee at a car dealership, businessmen and others from throughout the country. The investigations was done by officers of the Fraud Squad who are continuing their inquiries. The nine remain in police custody up to last night.