The uncle of Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Avinash Singh has described the 2014 audit done by Ernst & Young into the Caroni Green Initiative (CGI) project “as flawed” and is demanding a fresh audit.
Khemraj Singh, 47, was named in the report for doing “poor quality land preparation and irrigation system” work on agricultural plots in the project.
Singh said the audit got into the media’s hands to make his nephew look bad.
“I am now hearing about all this...I had no idea there was an audit and my name was involved. This is a big shock to me.”
Last week, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Avinash Singh promised to launch an audit into CGI, stating that monies invested into the project could not be accounted for.
The audit stated that CGI hurriedly screened tractor operators and did not search the market for best prices.
“This fast tracking led to inefficient hiring of tractor operators and eventually poor quality work, engaging one main vendor, Khemraj Singh, to develop most of the land, as he had the required equipment available,” the audit stated.
The work undertaken by Singh, the audit stated “resulted in flooding of fields and the destruction of crops.”
The audit also blamed Singh for providing a poor irrigation system on agricultural plots, since he was hired to develop and implement this system.
Singh: It was a total failure, farmers got a raw deal
Singh denied the allegations, saying it was one-sided, since approximately 20 farmers were not asked to outline their problems and losses suffered by Caroni 1975 Ltd, which managed the project.
Singh said “All my time, crops, labour and money have gone down the drain.” The Felicity farmer said as a result of his involvement in the project, he bought a fleet of heavy equipment after taking a loan. “I still have to pay off $500,000 to the ADB.”
PS in Agri Ministry responds: I have not seen the audit
Singh (Avinash), in response to an e-mail, said he had not seen the audit. “I am aware that my uncle was among the farmers working with Caroni Green. I am not aware of the details of his relationship with CGI.”
Asked if the ministry still intended to undertake a fresh financial audit, Singh wrote “my information on the concerns over CGI is based on discussions I had with the Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries.”