An internal investigation at the Ministry of Transport has uncovered troubling signs that money collected for services may not be making it into government accounts. Minister of Transport, Doctor Louis Zabaneh, says that shortly after stepping into the role a few weeks ago, he noticed irregularities in operations across the country. The ministry quickly launched a formal investigation, and now, a detailed report outlining the findings is on the desk of the Director of Public Prosecutions. So, does this mean former Transport Minister Rodwell Ferguson is in hot water? Not necessarily. According to Doctor Zabaneh, the investigation isn’t pointing fingers just yet. This development comes just a week after Public Service Union President Dean Flowers publicly called on the ministry to investigate how things were run under Ferguson’s leadership. Doctor Zabaneh confirmed the investigation is ongoing and says more details will be shared as the process unfolds.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport
“When we came in we found irregularities across the country and we have a case with the DPP who we are looking at scenarios that we have seen and are investigating. So I cant speak to it specifically, so we are taking steps that is our responsibility. We feel that until we are able to make an example of rogue employees whoa re there stealing the resources of our people, that maybe until then it continues business as usual and hopefully people get the message we are serious. We are aiming to do precisely what we need to do to make people understand that these things will not be tolerated and there are consequences to that type of action. What we are seeing is that there is collusion between various levels. What happens is when you don’t have system in place where there is clear terms of reference for people in terms of who is responsible for what then there is always a setting where people can point fingers and say it was not me it was that one and the other one. So these are things we need to ensure that we make it clear. There are persons from different levels that we are investigating.”
Paul Lopez
“The obvious question would be if the former minister could find himself in some hot water.”
Dr. Louis Zabaneh
“At this point what we are looking at is in the hands of the DPP. These are things like people coming for services at the window. Certain amount of money is collected at that level and it does not reach into the coffers of government. There are schemes that they use to take these monies into their own pockets, those types of things.”
We wait to see what the outcome of this investigation will be and if anyone will be criminally charged based on the findings.