Manager at People's Ministry fired over corruption allegations: Express report

Andrew Boodoo

A senior official of the Inter Agency Unit (IAU) of the Ministry of the People has been fired, the Express newspaper reported on Monday.

The report said Andrew Boodoo, manger of the unit, received his letter of dismissal last week and quoted the ministry's Permanent Secretary Simeon Yearwood as confirming it.

The paper also quoted unnamed sources as saying that Boodoo was removed because of allegations of corruption within the IAU. However it was unable to get a confirmation of that from Yearwood. "I have no comment at this time," was all the paper was able to get from the PS. It said it tried but failed to get a comment from Boodoo.
 
The IAU is a pilot project within the ministry involving representatives of several ministries and agencies including municipal police, the ministries of National Security and Legal Affairs, city corporations, NGOs and private organisations. Its responsibility is the removal of people who live on the streets.

The allegations of corruption centre around what is referred to a "recycling" of the persons who live on the streets in various parts of the country. There is a significant cost for each person removed.

The allegation is that the unit has been moving person one person, then allows the person to return to the street only to be removed again. In the process the costs increase and the same person is registered two or three times, eactime as a different person. 

This "recyling" process is adding significant costs to the ministry and creating bogus statistics, the paper reported. "Such payments run into millions of dollars," the paper stated.

The paper also said it understands that more dismissals are imminent as the new People's Minister - Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar - takes charge of the ministry.