A female staff at the Ministry of Housing and Water has been dismissed and is expected to be charged in relation to corruption.
“We were able to get evidence against one employee…she was arrested, she was questioned and I believe put on bail. The last I know is that the file is with the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions),” Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues told a press conference today.
The Minister acknowledged that there were several allegations of corruption made against other employees but noted that actions cannot be taken unless there is evidence.
“There were a number of allegations levelled at several staff members. But you would appreciate that we cannot take definitive action based on allegations…obviously we would examine these individuals more closely. There were engagements with them, they were interviewed in-house to find out if they are willing to offer any explanations as to why these allegations are being made against them, but obviously if you do not have proof of any corrupt activities, there’s no possibility for us to just terminate somebody based on an allegation…”
In this regard, she encouraged persons who are coming forward to expose corruption within the Ministry to do so with credible information.
“We encourage them to provide us with some form of evidence so we can take definitive action,” Minister Rodrigues stressed, noting that most times, the persons with the evidence would be persons who themselves were engaged in corruption.
“Many of the people who make complaints or allegations on social media are people who have given somebody…money in exchange for land and have not gotten it, because the person they pay does not have the authority to allocate lands…”
“There is no need for people to pay bribes for house lots,” she added.
