Suruj says he has nothing fear from audit, plans to take Warner to court

Former Chaguanas mayor Suruj Rambachan said Thursday he has nothing to hide and nothing to fear about a proposed audit of the borough's books for the six-year period that he served as mayor.

Rambachan's successor, Natasha Navas, announced at a political meeting on Wednesday that one of her first priorities is to ask for a forensic audit.

Speaking with the Trinidad Express Thursday Rambachan said that's not necessary since he always operated within the law.

"We have always operated with accountability and transparency, so the mayor needs to say why she believes this audit is necessary," Rambachan told the paper.

He said the last audit was done at end of the financial period in 2007 and the corporation had appeared before an internal committee to answer queries made by members of the public.

He said that turned out "satisfactory", adding that "the mayor is free to conduct whatever audit she thinks is necessary."

However, Rambachan is taking allegations of attempted inappropriate behaviour while he was in office, made against him by Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner, more seriously.

He told the paper his lawyers are looking into the "lies", which he said "are all part of his (Warner's) politics."

Warner's allegations against Rambachan were made Wednesday in a public meeting that was broadcast live on radio.

Rambachan said his lawyers have requested recordings of the meeting.

Warner has made no apologies for engineering the move to kick out Rambachan and replace him with Navas, a political rookie who has come under fire from the UNC, which claims that she lacks the skills to do the job.