The official CEPEP thread

[Chimera]

one eye change yuh name to two eye and check we back

cuz yuh dotish bad.

[Dizzy28]

one eye change yuh name to two eye and check we back

cuz yuh dotish bad.

One eye would say CEPEP was bad...if PNM was the party that was trying to deal with it. You all need to understand these fellas place party over country

[hover11]

Contractor backs down after CEPEP's legal challenge


CEPEP’s response, issued through Freedom Law Chambers and led by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, cast doubt on the legitimacy of a contract extension signed between the two parties on April 23, 2025, five days before the general election.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CgciGWGps/

ROFL one eye where yuh

[pugboy]

thought kareem and dem was going to launch a serious legal challenge

[hover11]

You see this thing called politics is a nasty game.This is the same PNM who now got voted out for ignoring the people and was taxing us to poverty. All of a sudden they give a fk about the small man

[pugboy]

i now read the article
a real joke
embarrassing for larry lalla SC to try that stunt and then backpedal

[hover11]

Young was also on the team this just isn’t his year

i now read the article
a real joke
embarrassing for larry lalla SC to try that stunt and then backpedal

[The_Honourable]

well YES....

Study that it was kareem marcelle who instructed st clair and larry lalla SC to do this case


Contractor backs down after CEPEP's legal challenge

A legal challenge filed against the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) by a contractor has collapsed, less than 24 hours after it was filed in the High Court.

Stephen Samuel’s Contractors Ltd, which had moved urgently to reverse CEPEP’s decision to terminate its contract, withdrew its claim form, statement of case, and application for injunctive relief on Friday one day after launching the action.

The company’s attorneys, led by St Clair O’Neil and Senior Counsel Larry Lalla, had served a pre-action protocol letter on CEPEP CEO Keith Eddy on July 3, calling for the immediate rescission of a termination notice dated June 27. The letter gave CEPEP until 3 p.m. that same day to respond or face court action.

The termination, which took effect immediately, was part of a wider CEPEP decision to cancel contracts for more than 300 contractors, reportedly affecting upwards of 10,000 workers across the country.

In the pre-action letter, attorneys for Samuel’s company described the termination as oppressive, unlawful, and against public policy, arguing that it breached both the express terms of the contract and the principles of natural justice. They claimed the contractor had performed its duties satisfactorily and had been given no warning or reason for the sudden termination.

The legal team also contested the validity of Clause 15 of the CEPEP contract, which allows for termination with 30 days’ notice or payment in lieu, suggesting that it constituted an unfair contract term under Section 11 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1985. They argued that the clause disproportionately favoured CEPEP and lacked reciprocal protections for the contractor.

However, CEPEP’s response, issued through Freedom Law Chambers and led by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, cast doubt on the legitimacy of a contract extension signed between the two parties on April 23, 2025, five days before the general election.

CEPEP’s attorneys raised concerns about the timing, process, and legality of that extension, noting that the contract had already been extended until November 2026, yet was further extended to 2029, despite 18 months still remaining on the previous agreement.

In their response letter, CEPEP demanded a full explanation and documentation, questioning whether the addendum had been processed in accordance with procurement policy, board approval, or principles of transparency. The legal team alleged that the sudden renewal appeared to bypass public tendering and “raised serious questions of political interference, nepotism, and possible backdating.”

Later that evening, on July 3, CEPEP was served with the contractor’s urgent High Court filings, including affidavits and a draft order. But by the next day, attorneys for the contractor filed a notice of withdrawal, effectively ending the matter.

CEPEP, in a subsequent letter dated July 4, accused the contractor of abusing the legal process, alleging that the claim had been politically motivated and poorly grounded in law.

“This claim was misconceived, hopeless, frivolous, and vexatious and doomed to fail,” the company’s attorneys stated. “It was clearly an abuse of the court’s process whereby your client was illegitimately invoking the court’s jurisdiction for the dubious purpose of providing perceived legal political ammunition.”

CEPEP also disclosed that the contractor had received over $7 million in payments from 2018 to 2025 and had consistently benefitted from contract renewals, despite CEPEP’s stated model of offering short-term contracting opportunities.

With the claim withdrawn, CEPEP has indicated its intent to pursue legal costs and left open the possibility of referring the matter to the relevant authorities for further investigation into alleged breaches of law or contract.

https://trinidadexpress.com/newsextra/c ... 25655.html

[pugboy]

that extension long before existing extension was close to finish is pure bobol

they gonna have to pay costs for anand sc fees out of their own pocket now

[The_Honourable]

oh shuuuuxxxx... no wonder the company withdraw their lawsuit


https://www.facebook.com/vulcansatirist ... ZYLrv7khil

Kareem living up to his Makandal Daaga law degree.

[Chimera]

Lmao

So a company that not even on the company registry have contract lol

Over 7 million paid in 7 years....but that's a million a year....83k+ a month

I thought cepep contracts only get 20k per month.


One eye hymc eh.

[Chimera]

Larry Lalla not so stupid tho. Most likely the client lie to him about the facts and he jump the gun.

Hard luck tho

[pugboy]

prizgar is bandit land central

[goalpost]

People wanna blame UNC for this, but the amount of bobol that PNM and their politically aligned contractors run eh. 7 million? Nah man. And how much of that went to paying his employees. Unfortunately the workers have to suffer for this, and hopefully they get back in when this is regularised, but this nonsense lies solely on the shoulder of PNM and Rowley.

[hover11]

PNM bobol one eye bobol

[hover11]

PNM wasn't the same government that always used to say the money just isn't there interesting....I would like a forensic audit completed on every state enterprise let's start with CAL

[MaxPower]

PNM wasn't the same government that always used to say the money just isn't there interesting....I would like a forensic audit completed on every state enterprise let's start with CAL

Jason,

The board had their meet and greet with CAL CEO on the [emoji[emoji6][emoji6]] Jul.

Could just imagine how clueless they are knowing that not one of them has an ounce of aviation experience or has any idea about the operations.

Question is….who will be advising them?

[one eye]

Didn’t they withdraw the application to submit a new application?

A lot of companies at CEPEP were a victim to a company de-list and de-registration exercise, one of the claimants found himself in the situation without his knowledge. The new application was re-submitted.

Forgetting to file annual returns even for two years can cause the Global Forum to deem the company inactive. Stephen Samuels Contractors Ltd is a small company, set up solely for CEPEP. Not best practice to forget to file your annual returns however it usually happens with small companies.

The last audit done was 2018 meanwhile the accounting information from 2009-2016 is long gone, the audit completed in 2019 was fine. We battled covid 2019-2021. Auditing at that time is not ideal for reliability reasons. That leaves 2022-2024, which can be done easily, no wrong doing will be found.

63,000 to be struck off the list

Attorney General Reginald Armour says 63,000 inactive companies will be struck off the Companies Registry.

He said, in five weeks, a team from Global Forum will be in Trinidad and Tobago.

In his contribution to the debate of The Miscellaneous Provisions (Global Forum Bill) 2024 at the Senate sitting on Tuesday, Armour said the “old back of the envelope” approach to corporate administration must end.

He said the Registrar General has embarked on a programme of striking off companies for failure to file critical post-incorporation documents, in particular annual returns for a period of three or more years.

“The Registrar General has identified as at March 31, 2024 some 63,000 companies, ostensibly inactive companies, and recently commenced a comprehensive striking-off process with respect to these entities,” he said. “Both the FATF and the Global Forum frown on dead corporate entities reposing in registries so the removal of inactive companies shall go a long way in demonstrating our commitment to becoming more in compliance with the requirements of these inter-governmental and international bodies,” he added.

He noted that Global Facility is a body which is responsible for supporting countries in adopting enhanced measures to increase their compliance with the international Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Framework and as a unit of the European Union (EU).

https://trinidadexpress.com/business/lo ... d2312.html

[hover11]

Didn’t they withdraw the application to submit a new application?

A lot of companies at CEPEP were a victim to a company de-list and de-registration exercise, one of the claimants found himself in the situation without his knowledge. The new application was re-submitted.

Forgetting to file annual returns even for two years can cause the Global Forum to deem the company inactive. Stephen Samuels Contractors Ltd is a small company, set up solely for CEPEP. Not best practice to forget to file your annual returns however it usually happens with small companies.

The last audit done was 2018 meanwhile the accounting information from 2009-2016 is long gone, the audit completed in 2019 was fine. We battled covid 2019-2021. Auditing at that time is not ideal for reliability reasons. That leaves 2022-2024, which can be done easily, no wrong doing will be found.

63,000 to be struck off the list

Attorney General Reginald Armour says 63,000 inactive companies will be struck off the Companies Registry.

He said, in five weeks, a team from Global Forum will be in Trinidad and Tobago.

In his contribution to the debate of The Miscellaneous Provisions (Global Forum Bill) 2024 at the Senate sitting on Tuesday, Armour said the “old back of the envelope” approach to corporate administration must end.

He said the Registrar General has embarked on a programme of striking off companies for failure to file critical post-incorporation documents, in particular annual returns for a period of three or more years.

“The Registrar General has identified as at March 31, 2024 some 63,000 companies, ostensibly inactive companies, and recently commenced a comprehensive striking-off process with respect to these entities,” he said. “Both the FATF and the Global Forum frown on dead corporate entities reposing in registries so the removal of inactive companies shall go a long way in demonstrating our commitment to becoming more in compliance with the requirements of these inter-governmental and international bodies,” he added.

He noted that Global Facility is a body which is responsible for supporting countries in adopting enhanced measures to increase their compliance with the international Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Framework and as a unit of the European Union (EU).

https://trinidadexpress.com/business/lo ... d2312.html

One Eye lewwe be real....yuh on shite

[Dizzy28]

Didn’t they withdraw the application to submit a new application?

A lot of companies at CEPEP were a victim to a company de-list and de-registration exercise, one of the claimants found himself in the situation without his knowledge. The new application was re-submitted.

Forgetting to file annual returns even for two years can cause the Global Forum to deem the company inactive. Stephen Samuels Contractors Ltd is a small company, set up solely for CEPEP. Not best practice to forget to file your annual returns however it usually happens with small companies.

The last audit done was 2018 meanwhile the accounting information from 2009-2016 is long gone, the audit completed in 2019 was fine. We battled covid 2019-2021. Auditing at that time is not ideal for reliability reasons. That leaves 2022-2024, which can be done easily, no wrong doing will be found.

63,000 to be struck off the list

Attorney General Reginald Armour says 63,000 inactive companies will be struck off the Companies Registry.

He said, in five weeks, a team from Global Forum will be in Trinidad and Tobago.

In his contribution to the debate of The Miscellaneous Provisions (Global Forum Bill) 2024 at the Senate sitting on Tuesday, Armour said the “old back of the envelope” approach to corporate administration must end.

He said the Registrar General has embarked on a programme of striking off companies for failure to file critical post-incorporation documents, in particular annual returns for a period of three or more years.

“The Registrar General has identified as at March 31, 2024 some 63,000 companies, ostensibly inactive companies, and recently commenced a comprehensive striking-off process with respect to these entities,” he said. “Both the FATF and the Global Forum frown on dead corporate entities reposing in registries so the removal of inactive companies shall go a long way in demonstrating our commitment to becoming more in compliance with the requirements of these inter-governmental and international bodies,” he added.

He noted that Global Facility is a body which is responsible for supporting countries in adopting enhanced measures to increase their compliance with the international Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Framework and as a unit of the European Union (EU).

https://trinidadexpress.com/business/lo ... d2312.html

7m in seven years is not small money.
Nor does seven years seem to suggest temporary.
Stephen Samuel Contractors is just "gimme gimme" on a big scale.

[Type Rated]

PNM wasn't the same government that always used to say the money just isn't there interesting....I would like a forensic audit completed on every state enterprise let's start with CAL

Jason,

The board had their meet and greet with CAL CEO on the [emoji[emoji6][emoji6]] Jul.

Could just imagine how clueless they are knowing that not one of them has an ounce of aviation experience or has any idea about the operations.

Question is….who will be advising them?

This isn’t correct please do your due diligence

[MaxPower]

PNM wasn't the same government that always used to say the money just isn't there interesting....I would like a forensic audit completed on every state enterprise let's start with CAL

Jason,

The board had their meet and greet with CAL CEO on the [emoji[emoji6][emoji6]] Jul.

Could just imagine how clueless they are knowing that not one of them has an ounce of aviation experience or has any idea about the operations.

Question is….who will be advising them?

This isn’t correct please do your due diligence

Enlighten me please so i can correct myself going forward.

[one eye]

$7mil in 7 years -> $1mil per yr.

Who changed the existing temporary monthly contracts to three year contracts?

Quick math.

Contractor annual salary -> $21,999 x 12mths -> $263,988
Total without contractor salary -> $1,000,000 - $263,988 -> $763,012
Workers annual salary -> $120 x 5dys x 4wks x 12mths -> $28,800
Number of workers under contractor -> $763,012/28,800 -> 25 workers

Contractors usually have 25-30 workers, this is perfectly fine.

[The_Honourable]

Didn’t they withdraw the application to submit a new application?

A lot of companies at CEPEP were a victim to a company de-list and de-registration exercise, one of the claimants found himself in the situation without his knowledge. The new application was re-submitted.

Forgetting to file annual returns even for two years can cause the Global Forum to deem the company inactive. Stephen Samuels Contractors Ltd is a small company, set up solely for CEPEP. Not best practice to forget to file your annual returns however it usually happens with small companies.

The last audit done was 2018 meanwhile the accounting information from 2009-2016 is long gone, the audit completed in 2019 was fine. We battled covid 2019-2021. Auditing at that time is not ideal for reliability reasons. That leaves 2022-2024, which can be done easily, no wrong doing will be found.

63,000 to be struck off the list

Attorney General Reginald Armour says 63,000 inactive companies will be struck off the Companies Registry.

He said, in five weeks, a team from Global Forum will be in Trinidad and Tobago.

In his contribution to the debate of The Miscellaneous Provisions (Global Forum Bill) 2024 at the Senate sitting on Tuesday, Armour said the “old back of the envelope” approach to corporate administration must end.

He said the Registrar General has embarked on a programme of striking off companies for failure to file critical post-incorporation documents, in particular annual returns for a period of three or more years.

“The Registrar General has identified as at March 31, 2024 some 63,000 companies, ostensibly inactive companies, and recently commenced a comprehensive striking-off process with respect to these entities,” he said. “Both the FATF and the Global Forum frown on dead corporate entities reposing in registries so the removal of inactive companies shall go a long way in demonstrating our commitment to becoming more in compliance with the requirements of these inter-governmental and international bodies,” he added.

He noted that Global Facility is a body which is responsible for supporting countries in adopting enhanced measures to increase their compliance with the international Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Framework and as a unit of the European Union (EU).

https://trinidadexpress.com/business/lo ... d2312.html

One Eye lewwe be real....yuh on shite

IF!?

one eye... that covid excuse is pure BS and you know it. Next time ask yuhself, if UNC was in government during covid, and Barry say no audits were done on cepep for the period 2019-2021 because it would not have been ideal for reliability reasons, you would believe that? You would give barry a pass for audits not being done in 2022 and 2023?

So wait... Stephen Samuel’s Contractors Ltd collecting hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in contracts couldn't file a $40 annual return? How much amnesty we had again? So that means there is the possibility this company was collecting money after being struck off? Can CEPEP recover monies from this company for this period since they had no legal standing to operate?

Interesting...

[pugboy]

need to do a forensic audit of this company

[paid_influencer]

one eye on the ball again

[16 cycles]

Filing is online a few yrs now...you get constant reminders.../companies registry

[hover11]

Filing is online a few yrs now...you get constant reminders.../companies registry

It come like NIS or submission of taxes to BIR if the government ministries or state enterprises don't pay in a timely manner which they don't,who going after them? Those systems are in place to keep the private sector in line

[one eye]

Honourable if they were in government during the covid crisis, I would give them a pass, not sure what you are trying to spin here.

CEPEP can indeed recover monies from that company if the state wins the case.

Unemployment rate is almost 8%!!

Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do, yeah they were all yellow.

CEPEP’s 2013-2015 financial records missing, says GM

Keith Eddie said in order to get these accounts sorted out, they will have to go back to bank records.
“It has made it very difficult to sign off on the 2015 audit because of a lack of information. The management team has made several attempts to recover it.
“They went as far as asking Price Waterhouse (audit firm) to provide software, but the server crashed and everything is now lost. The estimated annual cost of running CEPEP contracts in the previous years was $500 million to $600 million annually.”

"There is no truth in the allegations that supporters of the People’s National Movement are being favoured for contracts. It is up to the tendering committee."

https://newsday.co.tt/2018/07/26/cepep- ... ermission/

[Dizzy28]

Honourable if they were in government during the covid crisis, I would give them a pass, not sure what you are trying to spin here.

CEPEP can indeed recover monies from that company if the state wins the case.

Unemployment rate is almost 8%!!

Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do, yeah they were all yellow.

CEPEP’s 2013-2015 financial records missing, says GM

Keith Eddie said in order to get these accounts sorted out, they will have to go back to bank records.
“It has made it very difficult to sign off on the 2015 audit because of a lack of information. The management team has made several attempts to recover it.
“They went as far as asking Price Waterhouse (audit firm) to provide software, but the server crashed and everything is now lost. The estimated annual cost of running CEPEP contracts in the previous years was $500 million to $600 million annually.”

"There is no truth in the allegations that supporters of the People’s National Movement are being favoured for contracts. It is up to the tendering committee."

https://newsday.co.tt/2018/07/26/cepep- ... ermission/

Your bolded part came from the mouth of Ashton Ford, a man with absolutely no need to lie about collusion in CEPEP since he is not a high ranking PNM member.

Anyhows -

Documents acquired by the T&T Guardian yesterday also showed what appeared to be a letter dated January 27, 2016, sent by another Government Minister and MP to the secretary of Cepep’s Tenders’ Committee titled “Priority List for Cepep Contract Amended.”

The letter listed nine contractors and read: “The following are the names of contractors who are well-known to me and they all operate in the constituency and have a record of performance in keeping with the highest level of reliability, cost efficiency and quality of work done.”

The letter came from the MP’s constituency office with a signature attached.

Contacted on the issue yesterday, Cepep chairman Ashton Ford said he was unaware of the audio, which the T&T Guardian forwarded to him via Whatsapp. Told of its contents, Ford said he could not comment as he was “new on the job”.

https://trinidad689.rssing.com/chan-506 ... 52996a9782