TANCOO: Imbert and Sinanan must account for CAF’s $1.2 Billion Loan

The Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan is being less that factual when he claims there isn’t enough money to fix the nation’s roads as his Ministry has been the main recipient of over TT$8 billion from the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) in the past seven years says MP for Oropouche West, Davendranath Tancoo.

The Minister of Finance has signed several loan agreements with CAF specifically for road and infrastructure development over the last 7 years but neither Minister Imbert or Minister Sinanan has accounted for these billions.

Exactly one year ago on 27th July 2021, CAF approved a $US175 million loan to Trinidad and Tobago which was to be used to “tackle activities to improve the quality of infrastructure, with initiatives such as feasibility studies, modernization of roads, ports and airports, road maintenance, among others.” That’s TT$ 1.2 billion for road works.

And earlier, on 12th March 2019, CAF approved a US$200 million loan to improve Trinidad and Tobago’s road network, through the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of roads, access roads and an overpass, together with the management, and planning actions carried out by the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT).

According to CAF’s official release, “In the last four years (2016-2020), CAF approved operations for Trinidad and Tobago totaling USD 1,151 million, which represents an average of USD 288 million per year” or (or TT$ 7,803,780,000 or TT$ 1,952,640,000 per year) noted MP Tancoo.

Based on these public figures, over the past few years Trinidad and Tobago have had access to TT$ 9 billion in loans from CAF alone.

This does not include the hundreds of millions allocated every year to the Minister of Works in the annual budget. On that basis Tancoo stated “So for the Minister to claim that there isn’t enough money to fix the roads is ludicrous, ridiculous and deceptive. ”

“No Minister, there is more than enough money to fix the roads but it is petty geographical discrimination that stops the roadworks in Oropouche West, Moruga and Tabaquite from being done” said Tancoo.

The Minister of Works and his colleague the Minister of Finance must explain to the population what these billions of dollars have been spent on because as every citizen throughout the country knows, the road network today is worse than it has ever been. Where has the money gone?