Moonilal calls for CCTV probe
Trinidad and Tobago
OPPOSITION Member of Parliament, Dr Roodal Moonilal, is calling on the Government to undertake an independent investigation into the procurement by the Ministry of National Security of an upgrade to the current national closed-circuit television (CCTV) network.
“I am now calling for an independent investigation outside of the Government…we need to get an independent enquiry into the debacle of the tendering and contract arrangements for the CCTV cameras by the Ministry of National Security from September 2018 to April 2022 and thereafter, said Moonilal, at a virtual news conference last Thursday.
Moonilal’s call for the investigation followed last Wednesday’s publication by the Trinidad Express of Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s revelation that Cabinet had stopped the award of the contract for the national CCTV network in Trinidad to Irish-owned telecommunications provider Digicel and referred the evaluation and its outcome to new Attorney General Reginald Armour.
The Prime Minister made the disclosure to the Express last week Monday, in written responses to questions sent to him. The Prime Minister was asked to confirm that majority State-owned Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) submitted a bid for the contract that was substantially less than the Digicel bid, but the TSTT bid was disqualified for “technical” reasons.
He was also asked why the Government (Ministry of National Security) issued a letter of award to a company in which it has no equity interest, when a company in which it does have an equity interest is capable of doing the job.
In response, the Prime Minister said: “Those are the same questions that the Government is asking and have stopped any award and have referred the evaluation and its outcome to the Attorney General for his advice. This was done about two weeks ago. We await the review of the Attorney General.”
The Ministry of National Security issued a request for proposals (RFP) in January 2021 for the design, supply and installation of a dedicated data connectivity solution to support the national CCTV network.
That first RFP was withdrawn without explanation and was replaced by an RFP that was issued in October 2021, according to documents seen by the Express. The second RFP stipulates the installation of 2,488 cameras in 294 communities across Tobago and Trinidad, comprising 898 sites.
Some 470 of the 2,488 cameras are required to facilitate facial recognition, while 1,127 are required to recognise vehicle licence plates.
The opposition parliamentarian said a retired High Court judge and an expert in telecommunications would be appropriate choices to participate in the investigation.
“And don’t go and pick up someone on the street because you know them years now and put them to enquire. This must be a proper enquiry, with independent persons,” said Moonilal.
The Prime Minister told the Express that Cabinet authorised the Ministry of National Security to proceed with the CCTV project. That brought into action an evaluation done by a team under the ministry and its tender process, Rowley said. “When the Cabinet discovered where they were going, a demand was made to see the details of the process that resulted in the concern you also expressed,” the Prime Minister said, adding, “The documents were submitted and it is out of dissatisfaction and concern that the matter has been halted and sent to the AG for his advice and guidance.
“This is not the first time we have had issue with the attempt to award a contract in this ministry. The police had to be called in to trace ‘lost’ documents,” Rowley said. Questioned about the political repercussions of awarding the CCTV contract to Digicel, given that 51 per cent State-owned TSTT is in the middle of a retrenchment process, which is being funded by borrowed money,
Rowley said, “That is precisely why the effort to award it ‘as recommended’ by the second questionable evaluation process has attracted the intervention of the Cabinet to see just how this kind of recommendation emerged and why it is disregarding exactly what you are saying.”
He said the Cabinet awaits the advice of the Attorney General “because since ‘independent’ professional people did the tender process, we want to know what drives this outcome, which is seen to be so worrisome.”
image: pexels-jürgen-jester