Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath says he is “shocked but not surprised” that the decision to extend the contract of all 336 core Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme contractors did not have Cabinet approval.

In a media release on July 16, Padarath noted the board note, dated April 23, was signed by Cepep’s chairman Joel Edwards and CEO Keith Eddy and specifically stated that the Cabinet had considered and agreed to adopt this policy.

“The board was asked to ‘ratify’ the implementation of this Cabinet decision. Both the chairman and the CEO signed that note and held an emergency round-robin vote via email because they clearly believed that the Cabinet had granted the necessary approval.”