Member of Parliament for St. Augustine Ms. Khadijah Ameen is warning Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Mr. Faris Al Rawi to stop ill advising Regional Corporations to misappropriate funds.
The warning comes after comments made by the Minister in an attempt to cover up the failure of his Ministry to release funds for the payment of Councillor Offices at the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation.
Ameen said via a release that this failure resulted in Valencia West Councillor Neil Da Silva and Sangre Grande West Councillor Calvin Seecharan being evicted from office by their landlords since the rent hasn’t been paid in 6 months.
Minister Al Rawi advised that the Regional Corporation use money allocated for different purposes to pay rent.
However, MP Ameen is warning that this is against financial regulations which means that no public servant would sign off on such arrangements as spending should not be done under a vote until releases are confirmed by the Ministry.
On Al Wari’s suggestion to transfer money received for another purpose to pay rents, MP Ameen said Regional Corporations have always been advised not to transfer money from one vote into another until that vote is fully expended. The vote for rental of office has not been expended, therefore it is only when all releases are received and fully utilized that money can be utilized from one vote into another which is not the case here.