CEPEP: We don't hire gangsters

WHILE Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) has distanced itself from claims that it had contracted the company of a man currently in prison, the prison service is also claiming that there is no evidence to support claims of hits being called from behind prison walls.

The murders of two men and the firebombing of one of their homes are being blamed, in some quarters, on a fight for the spoils of a CEPEP contract. The leaders of two gangs, supposedly both on remand for murder, are alleged to have been orchestrating the murders as the fall-out worsens.

Police said the murders of Reynold Victor and Keston Alves were because of an ongoing war between Rasta City and the joint forces of the ABG and Sixx gangs.

Alves, of Second Caledonia, Morvant is the cousin of a murder accused from the area. He was killed on Monday afternoon when two gunmen ran into clothing store Threadz and killed him.

A day later, in supposed retaliation, Victor, the brother of another murder accused, also from Second Caledonia, Morvant was killed. He was shot dead while standing at the corner of Second Street and Saddle Road, San Juan. A day after Victor was killed, his childhood home was firebombed by ten gunmen.

In a statement on Friday, CEPEP said none of its contractors were gangsters. It took aim at a newspaper article that suggested that CEPEP contracts were the root cause of the murders and violence in Morvant.

“Internal checks by the company confirmed that none of the persons mentioned in the newspaper article are in receipt of any CEPEP contract. The public is asked to report any information on gang activity within the programme to the Company as well as the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.”

CEPEP said it “condemns all gang violence.”

It added that there was stringent criterion for prequalification of contractors, which begins with an advertisement of a pre-qualification notice followed by an application from interested parties. The criteria for getting a contract included a certificate of character along with a history in business and volunteerism.

The statement said each CEPEP contractor's team was comprised of 30 workers. The workers are paid fortnightly while contractors are paid a monthly management fee of $21,999.62.

In a telephone interview with Newsday on Friday, acting Prions Commissioner Deopersad Ramoutar said the narrative that “shots are being called” from behind bars, is an old one.

“What I can give you the assurance of, in 2023 is that the prisons of Trinidad and Tobago, we have calm and peaceful operations within the walls of the prison.”

He said there were illegal cellphones in prison, however, with regular searches, the number of such illicit items were reducing.

“The prison is in a much more sanitised position than before.”

Ramoutar said the war between rival gangs was not new but, within the prisons, there is “peace and serenity” among the gangs.

He thanked his officers for keeping the prisons calm.

President of the Prison Officers Association Gerard Gordon said the prison service had no evidence to suggest that the killings were linked to any inmates. He said there were issues in the past regarding the use of illegal phones and, while the issue remains, the two killings and all that transpired thereafter were not tied to that.

Newsday was told that the two men were at separate prisons, one at Frederick Street Prison and the other at Maximum Security Prison in Arouca.