{"id":16486,"date":"2021-05-12T09:26:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T14:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=16486"},"modified":"2021-05-12T10:13:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T15:13:53","slug":"dukes-wife-paid-16-million-from-wasa-over-eight-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/dukes-wife-paid-16-million-from-wasa-over-eight-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Duke\u2019s wife paid $16 million from WASA over eight years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A March 8, 2021 summary of payments by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has confirmed that the company owned by the wife of Public Services Association (PSA) President Watson Duke\u2014has been paid a total of $16,389,436.01 between 2012 and 2020.<\/p>\n<p>A copy of the reported payments obtained by Guardian Media showed that Blackstone Engineering Technologies Ltd (BETL) which is owned by Kimberly De Silva-Duke, would have been paid by both the People\u2019s Partnership (PP) and People\u2019s National Movement (PNM) governments.<\/p>\n<p>Information contained in the three-page document shows the total value of contracts awarded to BETL was listed at $16,984,326.18 \u2013 which means that De Silva-Duke is still owed $594,890.17 by WASA for completed works.<\/p>\n<p>Of the $16.3 million paid thus far, BETL would have collected $11.4 million under the PP regime, while the PNM would have paid out $4.9 million.<\/p>\n<p>A breakdown showed BETL collected the largest payment of $6,524,188.86 from the PP between October 2012 to May 2014.<\/p>\n<p>And between June 2014 to December 2014, BETL received $3,279,391.92. During the period January 2015 to September 2015, BETL was paid $1,667,593.11.<\/p>\n<p>Under the PNM government, BETL collected payments totalling $4,918,272.12.<\/p>\n<p>Three months after the PNM assumed office under Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, BETL was paid $281,393.50 between October 2015 to December 2015.<\/p>\n<p>And from January 2016 to December 2020, the firm netted $4,636,878.62 in payments.<\/p>\n<p>BETL has received no payouts for this year so far.<\/p>\n<p>The document quoted from a review of the Oracle Financial System for the period June 2014 to February 2021, which outlined contracts awarded to BETL under the following three WASA Tender Committees (WTCs).<\/p>\n<p>WTCs 05\/2010 and 101\/2013 for the provisions of mains repairs, installation of stop corks, curb valves and metres on an as and when required basis for a two year period;<\/p>\n<p>WTC 30\/2014 for provision for ground maintenance services at various facilities throughout Trinidad for a three year period.<\/p>\n<p>The document stated, \u201cThe contract for the provision of main repairs, installation of stop corks, curb valves and meters was awarded to a pool of bonded contractors, : fixed rates for the provision of various services on an as and when required basis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It further stated that the last works awarded to BETL were for the provision of ground maintenance for a six month period from May 2017 to October 2017.<\/p>\n<p>The total VAT-inclusive value of payments made to BETL over the period June 2014 to February 2021, was $9,865,247.15. It is as follows:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/guardian.co.tt\/news\/dukes-wife-paid-16-million-from-wasa-over-eight-years-6.2.1315828.0ffdcae3ee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>image: pexels-pixabay\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A March 8, 2021 summary of payments by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has confirmed that the company owned by the wife of Public Services Association (PSA) President Watson&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":16487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[112],"tags":[137,212,158],"class_list":["post-16486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-trinidad-and-tobago","tag-water","tag-works"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-pixabay-259027-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-4hU","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19374,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/latest-audit-at-wasa-finds-81m-pipeline-scandal\/","url_meta":{"origin":16486,"position":0},"title":"Latest audit at WASA finds $81M pipeline scandal","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"November 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago Rampant inefficiencies in the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) project management department have led to the beleaguered State-owned company over procuring $81 million in pipelines they may not have needed. This was just one of the shocking findings contained in a 35-page report by WASA\u2019s Internal Audit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pexels-pixabay-257770-scaled-e1637173319948.jpg?fit=1200%2C1147&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pexels-pixabay-257770-scaled-e1637173319948.jpg?fit=1200%2C1147&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pexels-pixabay-257770-scaled-e1637173319948.jpg?fit=1200%2C1147&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pexels-pixabay-257770-scaled-e1637173319948.jpg?fit=1200%2C1147&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pexels-pixabay-257770-scaled-e1637173319948.jpg?fit=1200%2C1147&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28987,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/official-links-procurement-to-shortage-of-road-repair-contractors\/","url_meta":{"origin":16486,"position":1},"title":"Official links procurement to shortage of road-repair contractors","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"July 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago THE requirement for contractors to register with the Office of Procurement Regulator (OPR) was linked to a shortage of contractors ready to do road repairs, at a sitting of Parliament's Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) at Cabildo Chambers, Port of Spain on Wednesday. The committee, chaired\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Architecture-construction-works-David-McBee-Pexels-e1666942806480.jpeg?fit=1024%2C577&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Architecture-construction-works-David-McBee-Pexels-e1666942806480.jpeg?fit=1024%2C577&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Architecture-construction-works-David-McBee-Pexels-e1666942806480.jpeg?fit=1024%2C577&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Architecture-construction-works-David-McBee-Pexels-e1666942806480.jpeg?fit=1024%2C577&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24596,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/chasing-procurement-perfection\/","url_meta":{"origin":16486,"position":2},"title":"Chasing procurement perfection","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"October 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago Harvard Business \u00adReview (April 2019) warned that perfectionism is a double-edged sword that can either motivate you to deliver high-quality work or cause you much anxiety and slow you down. Are we witnessing this play out with the many iterations of the procurement legislation saga, or is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Transparency-magnifying-glass-files-HonestReporting-flickr-e1565992586412.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Transparency-magnifying-glass-files-HonestReporting-flickr-e1565992586412.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Transparency-magnifying-glass-files-HonestReporting-flickr-e1565992586412.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37944,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/sportt-vs-board-directors-court-matter\/","url_meta":{"origin":16486,"position":3},"title":"SPORTT VS BOARD DIRECTORS COURT MATTER","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"January 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago A former director of the Sports Company of T&T Limited (SporTT) has claimed that he and his 13 fellow former board members were obligated to facilitate a $34 million contract for the controversial Life Sport programme, which subsequently failed. 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