The National Gas Company (NGC) has gone on the defensive in the face of mounting criticisms over its alleged mismanagement of state funds as it outlined specific areas of its multi-million-dollar expenditure.
Yesterday, responses to questions posed by Trinidad Express journalist Asha Javeed on its corporate spending budget was e-mailed to the Guardian.
NGC has been under tremendous scrutiny following the publication of a series of articles arising out of the findings of an internal audit report conducted on its corporate spending. The report, according to the articles, found that NGC corporate communications department’s budget mushroomed from $67 million in 2012 to almost $200 million in 2014.
The NGC fired back at the reports and filed legal action against that daily newspaper, even as Finance Minister Larry Howai called for a probe into the matter.
Yesterday, the state enterprise defended its spending as it said its Corporate Social Investment Programme (CSI) activities “help to develop the recipients of these sponsorships and therein the wealth of T&T, the development of our human potential.”
It also pointed to its sponsorship of a range of different sporting and cultural groups including steel orchestras; NGC Couva Joylanders, NGC La Brea Nightingales and NGC Steel XPlosion and tassa groups NGC T&T Sweet Tassa, NGC Show Stopperz and NGC Bao Simba. Additionally, NGC gave a breakdown of the groups, totalling 241, that it gave sponsorship to during the period 2012 to 2014, including schools and cultural groups.
The company also listed a further 78 sporting and cultural activities and groups it sponsored.
NGC was questioned on the justification for its approval of funding for Christmas parties for NGOs, to which the company said, over the years it has assisted numerous schools and NGOs to host mostly children’s Christmas parties, especially in less fortunate economic communities of the country.”
The company also said it had not released any funds for the upgrade of the Sevilla Club, Couva, even though approval was granted. The NGC was asked whether the $10 million approved for the club’s upgrade was paid off.
“To date no money has been spent by the NGC on Sevilla Club. The approval to which you refer was made contingent on a number of conditions and we are working with those responsible for the upgrade of the Sevilla Club to ensure these conditions are met before any funds can be disbursed,” NGC said.
The state enterprise dismissed the assertion that it was spending $22 million to build a new facility at Gran Chemin, Moruga.
It said that in 2008, the NGC group of companies approved the construction of a fishing facility at Guayaguayare to assist the fisherfolk in the area. This facility was completed in 2012 at a cost of $41.76 million (TT).
In 2014, the NGC group got a request from the fisherfolk in Gran Chemin, Moruga. The estimated the project to cost $22 million (TT), however, “NGC is currently evaluating the request.”