In Brief
- Political clapback: Leader of Government Business Barry Padarath has labelled Opposition Leader Penelope Beckles ‘shameless’ following her criticism of the recently passed Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill 2026.
- Procurement violations: Padarath challenged Beckles to explain a 2024 Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) report, which highlighted that $5 billion in contracts were awarded in violation of procurement laws under the PNM.
- Billions unaccounted for: Citing figures previously revealed by Davendranath Tancoo, Padarath noted that these contracts were granted through excessive use of limited and non-competitive methods, bypassing lawful tendering.
- Whistleblower reports: Tancoo had previously highlighted 60 reports of illegal activity, including bribery and bid-rigging, noting that several ministries failed to provide a listing of awarded contracts.
- Hypocrisy called out: Accusing the PNM of draining the treasury and engaging in mismanagement, Padarath stated the Opposition has no moral authority to lecture the current administration on corruption.
By Alicia Chamely
Leader of Government Business Barry Padarath is calling on Opposition Leader Penelope Beckles to reveal whose “pockets were being fattened” in 2024 when, under the People’s National Movement (PNM), $5 billion worth of contracts were awarded in violation of procurement laws.
Padarath was responding to Beckles’ statement, “What is telling is that this Government appears to be here for a good time, with bad reason, and is prepared to go to extreme measures to fatten its pockets,” after the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill 2026 was passed in the Lower House on Monday.
AZP News reached out to Padarath on Tuesday for a response to Beckles’ statement.
In a WhatsApp message, Padarath referred to Beckles as “shameless” for insinuating the government had amended the Bill to financially benefit its members and financiers through government contracts.
Saying Beckles should be the last person to be talking about any government being there “for a good time” only, Padarath stated, “The Leader of the Opposition is shameless at best by making these accusations.”
Padarath challenged Beckles to discuss a 2024 Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) report, which, according to then-Opposition Member of Parliament for Oropouche West Davendranath Tancoo, “is a damning tale of how this PNM Government, openly flaunting the very laws they passed, openly breaking the laws in the award of contracts, are throwing away billions of taxpayers’ money and refusing to account for it.”
At a United National Congress media briefing on September 15, 2026, Tancoo revealed a report from the OPR, which noted that in one year $5 billion worth of contracts were awarded by government institutions through the excessive “use of limited and non-competitive procurement methods.”
Tancoo said, “That means that in one year, $5 billion in contracts were awarded (and that accounts for only those reported), without lawful tendering, without legitimate evaluations, without transparent assessments and in open violation of Procurement Law—$5 billion is almost 10 per cent of T&T’s annual budget!”
Highlighting a Guardian Media report during the press briefing, Tancoo further stated whistleblowers had made 60 reports of illegal activity, including corruption, bribery and bid-rigging, and that ministries were among those who failed to provide a listing of contracts awarded.
Padarath, taking Beckles to task, stated, “The Leader of the Opposition should tell the country about whose pockets were being fattened in the PNM’s tenure when the OPR in 2024 cited that over $5 billion in contracts that were handed out in violation of the procurement laws of TT.”
Accusing the PNM of “draining the treasury, gutting the public sector and engaging in waste and mismanagement,” Padarath stated Beckles and the PNM had no “moral authority to lecture anyone.”
He added, “This is the same party that cannot explain the construction of a multimillion-dollar Balisier House now riddled in scandal and corruption. This is the same party where brother, father, wife, husband and children of Government Ministers received millions of dollars in contracts through sole selection.”
Padarath stated Beckles should “stop judging this administration by her party’s pathetic standards.”
