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Offline Sando prince

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Re: Housing Development Corporation Thread.
« Reply #60 on: April 17, 2016, 07:24:41 AM »



Politicians’ roles in HDC houses*

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160416/news/politicians8217-roles-in-hdc-houses

A house for Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s nephew, one for Clifton DeCoteau’s son and another for Devant Maharaj’s wife and sister.
They were some of the beneficiaries of houses over the past seven years gleaned from documents obtained by the Sunday Express of what the HDC termed “key distribution”.

The documents have revealed a significant number of family and friends of the former People’s Partnership government, advisers to former ministers, corporate communications specialists as well as staff of the Parliament being allocated State-subsidised houses.


Offline Flex

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Re: Housing Development Corporation Thread.
« Reply #61 on: April 21, 2016, 02:31:19 AM »
Jearlean wants $17 million
T&T Newsday Reports.
FORMER Housing Development Corporation (HDC) managing director Jearlean John has made good on her promise, instituting via her lawyers, a lawsuit against her former employer and claiming damages in the sum of $17 million for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract.

The suit was filed in the High Court by attorney Gerald Ramdeen in which John is claiming damages for a decision by the HDC to terminate her contract of employment on March 22. Two days later, she issued a pre-action protocol letter to the Board and when no response was forthcoming, she decided to proceed with her lawsuit.

The claim notes that John has had a ‘distinguished career’ in the corporate, local/international and public and private sectors. She also noted that she served several different prime ministers in varying capacities with distinction and without complaint. Her lawsuit states that during her career she held different public posts including Minister of Transport; Minister of Tobago Affairs; Minister of Tourism; Managing Director (MD) of the HDC; Chairman of Udecott; MD of VMCOTT; CEO of the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC); board member of TTEC; Vice-chair of YTEPP.

In the private sector, she has held positions as: CEO of Pizza Boys Groups of Companies; was the main architect behind the conceptualisation, establishment and development of the Rituals Coffee House brand; Manager of New Business Development at UWI’s Institute of Business.

In its termination letter to her, the HDC alleged that during a meeting of March 21, with the Board of Directors under Chairman Newman George, John “behaved in a manner that was deemed inappropriate and unbecoming of a managing director, in particular, of a managing director interacting with the Members of the Board of Directors of the HDC.” John was further informed in her termination letter that her reaction, demeanour, tone and manner of communicating with the Board of Directors could only be described as insubordinate and disrespectful.

The letter went on to state, “these actions on your part coupled with inter alia your behaviour since being sent on leave has resulted in the Board of Directors completely losing all trust and confidence in your ability to perform your duties in the best interest of HDC, as the Managing Director of the Organisation.” In her claim John states she began her employment with the HDC in 2009, for an initial period of three years. At the end of her initial contract, said contract was renewed for a further period of three years. John’s performance during the period 2009 - 2012, the claim states, was rated ‘exceptional’ in a performance review by the Chairman of the Board and this resulted in the HDC offering her a further three-year contract, with considerably enhanced benefits due to her performance as managing director.

However this was all cut short by her sudden and summary dismissal by the HDC Board in March. She claimed the conduct of the HDC in relation to her and the manner in which she was dismissed, were harsh, reprehensible and outrageous.

She noted in her claim that the actions of the HDC were designed to embarrass and humiliate her in the eyes of the public and said actions, were deliberate and carried out with intent to damage her reputation.

Efforts to reach chairman Newman George yesterday evening for a comment proved futile. John is claiming that as a result of her termination she is entitled to fixed sums based on earnings calculated for 8.5 months, which she had remaining in the current contract which was terminated on March 22.

What Jearlean Wants Salary - $62,000 x 8.5 mths: $527,000
Housing Allowance: $12,000 x 8.5: $102,000
Travel Allowance: $15,000 x 8.5: $127,500
Cell phone allowance: $2,000 x 8.5: $17,000
Land line allowance: $2,000 x 8.5: $17,000
Entertainment allowance: $5,000 x 8.5: $42,500
Performance Bonus: $62,000 x 6: $588,000
Total: $1,421,000 20% gratuity on value of the contract: $705,600 24 months salary: $2,352,000 Loss of future employment opportunity:
$7,500,000 Damage to reputation:
$5,000,000 Exemplary damages:
$500,000 Total damages recoverable: $17,478,6
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline weary1969

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Re: Housing Development Corporation Thread.
« Reply #62 on: April 22, 2016, 12:14:53 PM »
Why stop at 17 million round it off to 20 million
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline Flex

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Re: Housing Development Corporation Thread.
« Reply #63 on: April 27, 2017, 01:46:03 AM »
I WANT $.5M, HOUSE, LAND
By AZARD ALI (NEWSDAY)


A JUDGE presiding over a lawsuit filed against the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), heard yesterday, that a former HDC project manager demanded a house for his daughter, land and $.5M from the corporation, in return for assistance in legal matters.

Justice Frank Seepersad heard that Christopher Booker admitted to writing a letter dated January 11, in which he requested from the HDC, a house for his daughter in Curepe or Mt Hope; a parcel of land to build his own home and do agriculture and $500,000.

The letter was produced in the San Fernando High Court by attorneys defending the HDC against a lawsuit filed by Lionel Rackal who is seeking damages for the death of his wife Denise, 46, who was mauled by two pitbulls while at their HDC home in Edinburgh Gardens, Chaguanas.

Rackal claims the HDC had an obligation to ensure such dangerous dogs are not kept by tenants at its properties.

Rackal as well as tenants of the HDC living at Edinburgh Gardens, have already testified that complaints about the pitbulls were made to the corporation but nothing was done despite a HDC/tenant agreement that bars the keeping of dangerous dogs on HDC compounds. Booker gave evidence on February 23, on Rackal’s behalf, stating he received complaints about the pitbulls and wrote to the HDC complaining that the dogs had even attacked him. Attorney Prem Persad Maharaj led evidence from Booker. In 2011, Booker was dismissed by the HDC.

The HDC is defending itself saying it cannot be held liable as it was not notified and thus was unaware of dogs roaming its Edinburgh Gardens development.

The HDC denied Booker’s contention that complaints were made about the dogs. Following Booker’s evidence in February, attorney Shakar Bidasie who is representing the HDC, wrote to the court requesting the HDC be allowed to lead fresh evidence, based on a letter which had surfaced.

The attorney said Booker wrote a letter in January (before giving evidence) that he would testify instead to assist the HDC, in certain legal matters, but under certain conditions. Justice Seepersad granted Bidasie leave, but Rackal’s attorney Maharaj petitioned the Court of Appeal which dismissed his application and upheld Justice Seepersad’s ruling that Booker be cross-examined by Bidasie, on the letter.

Yesterday, Booker was called to the witness stand and was presented with the letter which was dated January 11, 2017. During cross examination, Booker admitted writing the letter but denied sending it to the HDC, saying he sent the letter to the law firm JD Sellier and Company.

The letter was tendered into evidence and Booker was asked to read it to the court. The letter (which is unedited) stated: “To whom it may concern.

Dear Sir/Madam, My name is Christopher Booker who was the project manager for the Housing Development Corporation. However, I was sent home in 2011 and now being asked to facilitate the said corporation in a litigation matter including the first and second parties. Be it known that I am not obligated to so do, however, I will only do so to assist as the main witness and testify to ensure success for the HDC in this matter, provided the conditions are agreed to: Allocation of a single unit for my daughter on waiting list for years - Curepe or Mt Hope preferably; Parcel of land to build my own house and agriculture; the sum of $500,000. Please be guided accordingly as other matters will nead my intervention in the not to distant future.” The letter was signed by Booker.

Bidasie put to Booker that he gave evidence in support of Rackal’s case against the HDC, on February 23, but wrote and sent his letter to the HDC on January 17, requesting house, land and money as a condition to support the HDC’s case. Booker replied, “I did not send this letter to the HDC, I sent it to JD Sellier.” Under further questioning, Booker said he filed his witness statement to give evidence on January 19, and two days before, prepared the statement. Bidasie put to Booker that had his request been granted (by the HDC) for house, land and money, he knew he had the freedom to withdraw his statement in support of Rackal’s claim. Booker said he was not aware of this.

Justice Seepersad ordered the claimant’s attorney to file submissions on or before 4 pm on May 3. Bidasie is to file submissions in reply, by May 19 and he (Justice Seepersad) will then deliver his ruling on June 14.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Dillon: 6,000 new low-cost homes by 2020
« Reply #64 on: May 18, 2019, 08:42:33 AM »
Dillon: 6,000 new low-cost homes by 2020
By Peter Christopher (Guardian).


Min­is­ter of Hous­ing Ed­mund Dil­lon says con­struc­tion will be­gin this year on 439 low and mid­dle-in­come hous­ing units in Port-of-Spain and San Fer­nan­do.

He made the promise fol­low­ing the sign­ing of a US$72 mil­lion con­tract with the Chi­na Gezhou­ba Group In­ter­na­tion­al En­gi­neer­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed (CG­GC) at the Hy­att Re­gency Ho­tel, Port-of-Spain, yes­ter­day.

“The con­tract be­ing signed to­day is for ini­tial con­struc­tion of 204 two and three-bed­room apart­ment units at South Quay, Port-of-Spain and 235 at La­dy Hailes Av­enue in San Fer­nan­do, with the state pro­vid­ing the lands and the CG­GC pro­vid­ing fi­nance and tech­ni­cal ca­pa­bil­i­ties,” Dil­lon said dur­ing the sign­ing.

The homes are a part of the Hous­ing De­vel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion’s (HDC) af­ford­able homes project and Dil­lon said the sign­ing paved the way for more than 5,000 low-cost homes to be built in the two cities by the end of the next year.

“Af­ter a year of ne­go­ti­a­tion, the Hous­ing De­vel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion and the Chi­na Gezhou­ba Group In­ter­na­tion­al En­gi­neer­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed, com­mon­ly re­ferred to as CG­GC, have ar­rived at the mu­tu­al­ly agreed po­si­tion for the de­sign, build and fi­nanc­ing of 5,000 new hous­es in Port-of-Spain South and San Fer­nan­do West and that’s just phase one. Gov­ern­ment’s ob­jec­tive is to com­plete at least 6,000 hous­ing units by fis­cal 2020,” Dil­lon said.

The first phase of the project, which will span two years and lo­cal con­tent, in­clud­ing ma­te­ri­als and labour, are ex­pect­ed to be used, he said.

Yes­ter­day’s sign­ing cer­e­mo­ny was at­tend­ed by At­tor­ney Gen­er­al Faris Al-Rawi, the MP for San Fer­nan­do West and Pub­lic Ad­min­is­tra­tion Min­is­ter Mar­lene Mc­Don­ald, the Port-of-Spain South MP, as well as For­eign and Cari­com Af­fairs Min­is­ter Den­nis Moses and Trade and In­dus­try Min­is­ter Paula Gopee-Scoon.

RELATED NEWS

Dillon: 6,000 houses by fiscal 2020
By Julien Neaves (Newsday).


Govt signs US $71m contract with Chinese company

HOUSING Minister Edmund Dillon has announced government plans to build 6,000 houses by fiscal 2020 following the signing of a US $71 million contract with a Chinese company.

He was speaking at the signing ceremony between the Housing Development Corporation and the China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Company (CGGC) for Phase 1–Affordable Housing Project 5000 Units at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

“This morning I consider to be a very defining moment in the housing construction industry in T&T,” Dillon said.

He said Government was satisfying a basic need by providing affordable housing and Project 5000 seeks to reduce the housing deficit. He said there are an estimated 180,000 citizens on a database waiting for affordable houses.

“Nowhere in any part of the world can any government satisfy that kind of demand. And therefore there must be alternative measures to seek to satisfy our citizens with respect to housing.”

The initial sites under the project are for 204 units at South Quay, Port of Spain and 235 units at Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando, while Phase 2 of the project will be in two other areas. Dillon said the housing sites will include recreational areas, as the aim was to create and shape wholesome communities.

Other contracts will be signed under this blanket agreement once lands identified for other units has undergone planning and development work stages.

“The Government’s objective is to complete as least 6,000 housing units by fiscal 2020. A tall order, ladies and gentlemen, but we feel it is achievable when we put all efforts by this government to ensure we deliver.”

Dillon said the Government has several housing initiatives, including other public/private partnerships, of which 1,600 units are planned for the next two years, and the housing bonds announced during the mid-year budget review in Parliament.

CGGC general manager Lui Huailiang said the model of the housing project has been innovative and the company is capable of delivering the project in a timely manner.

“In the meantime we will go all out.”

Huailiang said behind every success there is courage and passion.

“CGGC is ready and we are hoping for your continued support.”

He said the state-owned company was founded 49 years ago with global operations and its business covers energy, power, highways, railways, bridges, airports, ports and waterways. The company is also a leading manufacturer of cement.

Among those present yesterday were San Fernando West MP Faris Al-Rawi and Port of Spain South MP Marlene McDonald. Al-Rawi said the previous administration had no desire to develop San Fernando and McDonald said the project is part of a bid to develop Port of Spain.


Executive vice president of CGGC Energy China Zhou Xing (Larry), centre, and HDC chairman Newman George shake hands after signing documents for a housing construction project at the HYATT Regency, Port-of-Spain yesterday. Looking on are, from left, CGGC president Liu Huailiang, HDC managing director Brent Lyons, Minister of Trade Paula Gopee-Scoon, back from left, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, China’s ambassador to T&T Song Yumin, Minister of Housing Edmund Dillon, Minister in the Ministry of Public Administration Marlene McDonald and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dennis Moses.

« Last Edit: May 18, 2019, 08:47:27 AM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Dillon: 6,000 new low-cost homes by 2020
« Reply #65 on: May 19, 2019, 07:28:05 AM »
Moonilal on South Quay housing:
By Anna-LIsa Paul (Guardian).


It's an election gimmick that will never materialise

An elec­tion gim­mick that will nev­er ma­te­ri­alise. This was how for­mer hous­ing min­is­ter Dr Roodal Mooni­lal de­scribed Gov­ern­ment’s an­nounce­ment that they in­tend­ed to con­struct 204 apart­ments at South Quay, Port-of-Spain, as part of its con­tin­u­ing ef­fort to ad­dress the ur­gent de­mand for pub­lic hous­ing.

On Fri­day, Hous­ing Min­is­ter Ed­mund Dil­lion signed the US $71 mil­lion con­tract with Chi­na Gezhou­ba Group In­ter­na­tion­al En­gi­neer­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed (CG­GC) for the de­sign, build and fi­nanc­ing of four high-rise build­ings con­tain­ing 133 three-bed­room and 71 two-bed­room apart­ments at POS; and five high-rise build­ings con­tain­ing 120 three-bed­room and 115 two-bed­room apart­ments at La­dy Hailes Av­enue, San Fer­nan­do.

Con­struc­tion is ex­pect­ed to be­gin short­ly, with phase one set to span two years.

It is hoped that by the end of 2020, at least 5,000 low-cost homes would have been con­struct­ed via this project.

Claim­ing such promis­es were “cal­cu­lat­ed” and “po­lit­i­cal in na­ture”, Mooni­lal said, “These an­nounce­ments and fan­cy pic­tures are be­ing tak­en from web­sites and they are trans­pos­ing it. This is re­al­ly an elec­tion gim­mick to show the peo­ple that they will build some­thing in the fu­ture, but there is ab­solute­ly noth­ing in place for any type of mega-de­vel­op­ment that they are speak­ing about.”

Ex­press­ing con­cern that state projects were be­ing done with­out prop­er land ac­qui­si­tion pro­ce­dures be­ing fol­lowed, Mooni­lal point­ed to con­tin­u­ing de­vel­op­ments such as the Kay Don­na Over­pass and the To­co High­way as ex­am­ples of where the au­thor­i­ties had failed to fol­low prop­er pro­to­cols.

He re­it­er­at­ed, “They are just us­ing pic­tures be­cause they have no achieve­ments to show.”

Mooni­lal, re­fer­ring to the Peo­ple’s Part­ner­ship’s term in of­fice, said, “Where­as we could have shown schools, fire-sta­tions, po­lice sta­tions, hos­pi­tals…they are just go­ing on the In­ter­net and find some build­ings to put up and de­cide, this will be POS and San Fer­nan­do.

“There is ab­solute­ly no plan­ning, no pro­jec­tion, no vi­sion, no source of fi­nanc­ing.”

Mooni­lal said when the PP ad­min­is­tra­tion as­sumed of­fice in 2010, they con­tin­ued with pre­vi­ous plans from the Patrick Man­ning led-ad­min­is­tra­tion which in­volved the re-de­vel­op­ment of East POS and the port de­vel­op­ment at Beetham.

“These are projects that were in the pipeline for many years and we were con­tin­u­ing in that line,” he said.

Mooni­lal ac­cused the Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) of mov­ing away from this mod­el, pre­fer­ring city-scape type build­ings.

“I want to as­sure the peo­ple that none of this will hap­pen. It cer­tain­ly can­not hap­pen in 12 months. It is just try­ing to fool the peo­ple in an elec­tion year.”

Con­cerned that Chi­nese con­trac­tors were be­ing en­gaged for this par­tic­u­lar kind of project, Mooni­lal said, “T&T has an abun­dance and sur­plus of home con­struc­tion ex­perts and con­trac­tors who pro­duce high-qual­i­ty work all over the Caribbean. There are sev­er­al of them and it is very dis­turb­ing that the PNM Gov­ern­ment would iden­ti­fy a con­struc­tion com­pa­ny that has been in some trou­ble with the World Bank Group.”

Dis­miss­ing the need to en­gage for­eign con­trac­tors to con­struct lo­cal hous­ing units, Mooni­lal said, “We have the equip­ment, we have the labour force, we have the tech­ni­cal ca­pac­i­ty to do the work. You should en­gage for­eign con­trac­tors in projects where you may not have the do­mes­tic ca­pac­i­ty such as in port build­ing and hos­pi­tal con­struc­tion, cer­tain­ly not in hous­ing.”

“This is a ret­ro­grade and back­ward step that will fur­ther push out lo­cal busi­ness­es, lo­cal labour and lo­cal cap­i­tal for­ma­tion so this is an ex­treme­ly back­ward ap­proach by the Gov­ern­ment to en­gage Chi­nese con­trac­tors for home con­struc­tion.”

He claimed lo­cal firms would not ben­e­fit as the Chi­nese nor­mal­ly bring in their own equip­ment and labour, with pre­cious lit­tle left for the lo­cal mar­ket.

In Au­gust 2013, In­de­pen­dent Lib­er­al Par­ty leader Jack Warn­er pre­sent­ed a pack­age of good­ies to res­i­dents in East POS which in­clud­ed food, land, gov­ern­ment con­tracts, jobs in the pro­tec­tive ser­vices, and hous­es as part of his par­ty’s promise to im­prove their lives.

The World Bank Group and CG­GC

On May 29, 2015, The World Bank Group an­nounced the de­bar­ment of Gezhou­ba No 1 En­gi­neer­ing Co Ltd, the Gezhou­ba No 5 En­gi­neer­ing Co Ltd, and the Gezhou­ba No 6 En­gi­neer­ing Co Ltd and their af­fil­i­ates for a pe­ri­od of 18 months.

In ad­di­tion, Chi­na Gezhou­ba Three Gorges En­gi­neer­ing Co Ltd and its af­fil­i­ates were al­so de­barred for a pe­ri­od of six months.

Chi­na Gezhou­ba Group Co Ltd al­so re­ceived a Let­ter of Rep­ri­mand which was valid for six months dur­ing which the group re­mained el­i­gi­ble to par­tic­i­pate in World Bank-fi­nanced ac­tiv­i­ties.

The sanc­tions were part of a Ne­go­ti­at­ed Res­o­lu­tion Agree­ment be­tween the World Bank and Chi­na Gezhou­ba Group Co Ltd, and its four sub­sidiaries; name­ly: Gezhou­ba No 1 En­gi­neer­ing Co Ltd, Gezhou­ba No 5 En­gi­neer­ing Co Ltd, Gezhou­ba No 6 En­gi­neer­ing Co Ltd, and Chi­na Gezhou­ba Three Gorges En­gi­neer­ing Co Ltd.

The set­tle­ment fol­lows the ac­knowl­edg­ment of mis­con­duct by these en­ti­ties in three bank-fund­ed projects in the Peo­ples Re­pub­lic of Chi­na in re­la­tion to wa­ter con­ser­va­tion, earth­quake re­cov­ery, and flood man­age­ment.

The agree­ment signed be­tween the World Bank and Chi­na Gezhou­ba Group Co Ltd took note of the ex­tent of co­op­er­a­tion that the group and its sub­sidiaries' demon­strat­ed and the ex­tent of proac­tiv­i­ty and re­me­di­al ac­tion tak­en by the com­pa­nies to en­sure that this mis­con­duct does not re­cur.

Un­der the terms of the Agree­ment, Gezhou­ba No 1 En­gi­neer­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed, Gezhou­ba No 5 En­gi­neer­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed and Gezhou­ba No. 6 En­gi­neer­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed com­mit­ted to co­op­er­at­ing with the World Bank In­tegri­ty team and were al­so re­quired to adopt a Cor­po­rate Com­pli­ance Pro­gram con­sis­tent with the World Bank Group In­tegri­ty Com­pli­ance Guide­lines.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline maxg

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HDC: China contract done legally
« Reply #66 on: September 08, 2019, 09:38:20 AM »
https://newsday.co.tt/2019/09/08/hdc-china-contract-done-legally/
I get mix up in this read

5439 units @ $490 Million =) ~ 90 K/unit... so what did I read wrong?

Offline Flex

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Re: Housing Development Corporation Thread.
« Reply #67 on: January 29, 2020, 11:23:38 AM »
Over 100 families get keys to HDC homes today.
By Carsia Lee (Guardian).


“Let's de­liv­er a record num­ber of hous­es in 2020…”

Words of new­ly ap­point­ed Chair­man of the Hous­ing De­vel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion, Noel Gar­cia, at a hous­ing dis­tri­b­u­tion cer­e­mo­ny this morn­ing.

Ac­cord­ing to Gar­cia, the HDC plans to de­liv­er ap­prox­i­mate­ly 2,000 homes this year.

"I'm hap­py to be back at the HDC," Gar­cia said.

Gar­cia was ap­point­ed Chair­man of the HDC on Fri­day 10th Jan­u­ary 2020, re­plac­ing New­man George. This is his sec­ond stint at the Cor­po­ra­tion.

To­day at the Tre­strail Lands Hous­ing De­vel­op­ment, the keys for 123 homes would be dis­trib­uted to fam­i­lies.

Sev­er­al mem­bers of the pro­tec­tive ser­vices are among those fam­i­lies.



The keys for 123 homes would be distributed to families today, at the Trestrail Lands Housing Development.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Housing Development Corporation Thread.
« Reply #68 on: September 16, 2020, 06:11:01 PM »
Jearlean appeals $17m dismissal from HDC
By Derek Achong (Guardian).


Former Housing Development Corporation (HDC) managing director Jearlean John has appealed the dismissal of her $17 million unfair dismissal lawsuit against her former employer.

In her notice of appeal, which was filed late last week and obtained by Guardian Media, John’s lawyers raised seven grounds on which they believe High Court Judge Kevin Ramcharan made errors in finding that the board of the State-agency was entitled to dismiss her.

They are contending that in his judgment in early August, Ramcharan failed to properly assess the evidence presented at trial and did not provide sufficient reasons for his findings.

A date for the hearing of the appeal is yet to be set by the Appeal Court’s Registry.

According to the evidence, presented in the case, John and seven senior HDC employees were placed on administrative leave after a forensic audit was initiated by the board shortly after it was appointed in December 2015. While the audit was still ongoing, HDC Chairman Newman George and his fellow board members invited John to a meeting.

In their defence, the board members claimed that during the meeting on March 21, 2016, John was disrespectful to them and dismissed their concerns over the lease of two luxury vehicles. She was terminated the following day for her “reaction, demeanour, tone and manner of communicating with the board of directors”.

In her testimony, John denied that she was hostile towards the board members and claimed that she was ambushed in the meeting as her repeated attempts to obtain an agenda failed.

In his judgment summary, Ramcharan noted that while there were no minutes of the controversial meeting, George gave a more accurate account of what transpired.

While Ramcharan stated that her conduct was unfortunate and unjustifiable, he accepted that she would have been justified in feeling ambushed and blindsided and ruled that her conduct at the meeting was insufficient to warrant her dismissal.

However, he stated that her behaviour coupled with her previous conduct would have been considered by the board in making its decision.

“Everything must be taken in its proper context, and the reaction of the defendant to claimant’s conduct at the meeting would necessarily by influenced by her prior conduct,” Ramcharan said.

Although he said that he did not consider the audit results, he noted that the alleged infractions allegedly attributed to John would be insufficient to dismiss her.

Ramcharan said that even if she was wrongly dismissed she would not have been entitled to pursue the lawsuit in the form she did as her contract contained a clause allowing for termination, provided that there was three months’ notice.

Through her lawsuit, John was seeking $7.5 million in compensation for her “loss of future employment opportunities”, $5 million for damage to her reputation and $1.42 million for the eight and a half months, which she had left on her contract when she was terminated.

At the time, John’s monthly pay packet consisted of a $62,000 salary and $36,000 in allowances for travel, housing, communications, and entertainment.

John was also claiming that she is entitled to an additional 24 months salary as such a provision became a settled practice of the HDC, with respect to departing managing directors, since the tenure of former managing director Noel Garcia.

John contested the La Horquetta/Talparo constituency in the August 10 general election for the United National Congress (UNC) but lost to People’s National Movement (PNM) candidate Foster Cummings.

She has since been appointed an Opposition Senator.

John was represented by Gerald Ramdeen, Umesh Maharaj and Dayadai Harripaul. Russell Martineau, SC, Anthony Bullock and Marcelle Ferdinand represented the HDC.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Re: Housing Development Corporation Thread.
« Reply #69 on: October 27, 2020, 04:00:58 AM »
HDC applicants lose $48,000 to con artists.
By Shaliza Hassanali (Guardian).


Online fraudsters have managed to fleece desperate Housing Development Corporation (HDC) applicants of $48,000 in the last month.

This is the latest development in a public housing scam the HDC recently unearthed.

Yesterday, the HDC reminded citizens that all transactions/payments related to the allocation of housing units are conducted at its offices and they will never sanction payments or transfers to personal accounts.

The warning came after scores of HDC applicants desperately seeking to secure subsidised homes were conned of their hard-earned cash in the last few weeks by fraudsters. In a release, the HDC said in some cases, “the victims were actually defrauded of tens of thousands of dollars.”

Contacted on the issue, HDC managing director Brent Lyons told Guardian Media he was very concerned housing applicants were being ripped off during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am particularly concerned about people losing their hard-earned money to fraud. It’s over ten reported cases we have had in terms of people who actually called us to complain...and then there were reports of people whose friends called us who did not feel comfortable with what happened,” Lyons said in a telephone interview.

The HDC has over 100,000 applicants waiting in line for public housing.

Lyons said one has to keep in mind the person who handed over the cash but noted the persons who accepted the money have also committed a crime.

“You are paying to defraud the system.”

He said HDC’s security department had received complaints from “dozens” of applicants who were swindled in the last four weeks.

“We are again hearing a number of people complaining or making reports that somebody has attempted to defraud them or they have been contacted to pay some money somewhere.”

So far, the HDC has received reports of applicants handing over approximately $48,000 in cash to con artists.

In once instance, Lyons said one applicant paid $18,000 in cash to a fraudster, a case which is now the subject of a TTPS Fraud Squad investigation.

Lyons said the fraudsters had gone about planning an elaborate scam as well. He said they have been taking photos of single units, townhouses and apartments from the HDC’s website, most of which are in advanced stages of construction and using them to convince the unsuspecting applicants that their files were being processed.

“They have also been taking photographs of housing developments themselves, which they have been showing the applicants. What they would do....they would look at our Facebook page and social media and look for people who say they applied to HDC for a home and is awaiting a response. These people who have been waiting for a house are contacted via Facebook or Instagram by the fraudsters, who pretend to be an HDC employee asking them to make a deposit or down payment towards their new home,” he said.

“They tell you they could help in moving the process along if you pay money. I am not saying people are gullible. People want housing. If they get a call it lifts your hopes and the fraudsters try to give you something to hold on to make it sound legitimate.”

He said the scammers had found a creative way to swindle applicants by going online.

The HDC has photos of 20 housing sites on its website and social media pages. The fraudsters have showed bonafide applicants they approached photographs of the developments at Real Spring in Valsayn, Eden Gardens in Freeport and a private/public partnership project in Central.

Asked if the fraudsters could possibly be collaborating with HDC employees in the scam, Lyons said they had no evidence applicants’ personal information was being leaked to fraudsters on the outside.

“There are cases where people are purporting to be from the HDC ... and it happens all the time. We are saying nobody from the HDC will call you to meet them outside to conduct a transaction or payment. And if that happens don’t follow that... come into our head office.

“If anybody contacts you to do anything other than that, know it is a fraudulent of suspect transaction. That is is not how the HDC is run. We have our systems really locked tight. So there is no further investigation to be launched.”

This is not the first time HDC applicants have been targeted by scammers. In 2018, Lyons said the HDC had launched a “Scammers’ Alert” campaign to treat with such fraud. Last year, an HDC employee was also accused of fraudulently giving a house to a tenant living in the Greenvale Park development in La Horquetta. The fraud was only uncovered when ministry officials were screening residents to assist them following severe flooding in the community.

Lyons said with an increase in fraud again, they may have to return to the education campaign.

“Don’t let these fraudsters make you part with your hard-earned money,” Lyons urged.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

 

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