Housing Minister alleges unpaid election hires by PNM

MINISTER of Housing and Urban Development David Lee, speaking in Parliament on June 18 during the mid-year budget review, accused the former minister of housing of contracting thousands of people via an investment company for work related to the April 28 general election.

He added, however, they had not yet been paid for their contract work.

Despite this, Lee said he told the Housing Development Corporation (HDC): "If the people worked, pay them. It’s only fair."

Lee did not specify which former housing minister he was referring to, although MP for Trincity/Maloney, Camille Robinson-Regis, served as housing minister from 2022 until 2025. She became Attorney General in March, after Stuart Young was appointed Prime Minister following Dr Keith Rowley’s resignation. Upon her appointment, then-Minister in the Ministry Adrian Leonce was promoted to Minister of Housing.

"When people ask, ‘Where’s the money going?’...On March 17, they hired 2,300 people, mostly in the South. $3 million was spent, and when they lost the election, they didn’t want to pay the people. They hired them for just two months. When you ask where the money went, that’s where they spent it all," Lee said.

He accused the former MP of San Fernando West, Faris Al-Rawi, of having "one of the biggest slices" of the 2,300 hires.

"He (Al-Rawi) paraded them all through San Fernando West. And you see that fella in HDC, a chairman called Noel Garcia? Let's not forget about him. I have plenty more to say about him to come," Lee added.

Criticising the opposition, Lee said, "All of a sudden, every one of the 13 members on that side is full of doom and gloom. We're just following what they left behind."

He accused the opposition of leaving behind mayhem, corruption, and a crashed economy, attributing it to the way the former minister of finance Colm Imbert, budgeted for the country.

He said the HDC workers started at 600 people, which then turned into 2,300.

"So don’t come here asking where the revenue is coming from. You all spent out all the revenue. Don’t pretend. You were part of it. Not my colleagues, but the people saw the truth on April 29."

He said those alleged contract workers were told they misunderstood the two-month contracts, accusing the opposition of using ordinary citizens as election gimmicks.

Lee believes the HDC, under the former administration, became an election tool, accusing the opposition of sending people to "do maintenance and other tasks," purely for votes.

"You still lost," Lee said.