In Brief
- Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath alleges that long-standing reports of sexual harassment within the On-The-Job Training (OJT) Programme were ignored by the former PNM administration.
- Padarath claimed former Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly had questions to answer, noting some cases involved minors and had already reached law enforcement.
- Dr Gadsby-Dolly fired back, denying knowledge of the allegations and correcting Padarath that the OJT fell under the Ministry of Labour during the PNM’s tenure, not Education.
By Alicia Chamely
There are long-standing allegations of sexual harassment and predatory behaviour taking place within the On-The-Job Training (OJT) Programme that were ignored by the former People’s National Movement (PNM) administration, says Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath.
Padarath, speaking to the media outside Parliament on Friday, revealed damning allegations of sexual misconduct within the OJT Programme when asked what initiatives would be taking place in the Ministry now that the 2027 National Budget has been presented.
Padarath said the information that had been brought to him over the last couple of weeks, since the OJT was reassigned from the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training to the Ministry of Public Utilities, was “mind-boggling.”
He said, “For the last 10 years there have been a number of reports and allegations at OJT of sexual harassment, of young people being preyed upon, and those things were just left to languish, swept under the rug, not treated with by the former administration.”
Padarath said former Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, under whose purview he claimed the OJT fell, would “have some questions to answer.”
He said, “Why were our young people put at this disadvantage in this precarious situation, where they were almost left to the wolves? I mean, these are pretty much young people, who are still, some of them, in their teens, and these issues were never resolved at the OJT.”
“So, now that it’s been brought to my attention, the number of cases that the former minister under our administration has raised with me, and those are some things on my radar to deal and treat with respect to OJT,” he said.
Questioned as to whether he would take criminal and/or legal action to deal with these reports, especially in cases where the victim might have been a minor, Padarath said some cases had already reached law enforcement and the Office of the Ombudsman.
Replying, he said, “Certainly, the good thing about it is that I have taken the position to let the chips fall where they may. It cannot be that any state institution or any minister turns a blind eye to this type of report and activity, whether it is young people or anyone in society.”
“I think these are serious issues that should have been treated with. And I’m told that these are not just isolated one or two issues. These issues did reach law enforcement in some instances. Some of these issues reached the Office of the Ombudsman, and therefore I’m waiting for a more comprehensive report,” he said.
Replying to Minister Padarath, St Ann’s East Member of Parliament and former Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said she had never heard of these allegations and was quick to remind Padarath that the OJT was not under her purview, but under the Ministry of Labour, during the last administration.
Gadsby-Dolly, who criticised Padarath’s statements as being part of his “zeal to distract from the failure of the government,” said Padarath was incorrect about her being the line minister in charge of the OJT Programme under the previous administration and advised him to do his “homework.”
She said, “In the tenure of the PNM, the OJT was under the Ministry of Labour, not the Ministry of Education.”
Gadsby-Dolly said after the 2025 elections, the United National Congress government moved the OJT to the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training and questioned why that minister (Minister Prakash Persad) never raised the issue in the 18 months he oversaw the programme.
She said, “And for the past year, the Ministry of Tertiary Education would have been in charge of OJT. So therefore, if there are allegations of sexual harassment and all those things, then the Minister of Tertiary Education has a lot of questions to answer.”
