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HOME	NOVEMBER 05th, 2005

The Ministry of Finance has announced the suspension from the government service of a public officer now at the centre of an investigation to alleged wrong-doing within the Physical Planing Unit (PPU) of the ministry.

In a brief statement issued, the ministry said that “the officer has been suspended on half pay until further notice, pending the conclusion of the current investigation”.

“Additionally, the Ministry of Finance has asked the Police and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to conduct an independent investigation of this matter”, it added.

The officer believed to be suspended in Keith Simon who is being investigated into his role on a controversial commercial building project at St. Mark’s. The official announcement about the suspension of the officer came less than a month after Water Engineer, Alphonsus Daniel made a formal complaint to the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) that his signature was allegedly used fraudulently to give the stamp of approval for the St. Mark’s project by the PPU.

GRENADA TODAY had broke the story about the alleged fraud that was committed by insiders at the unit. Speculation is rife that an officer at PPU collected an illegal fee of between $10-!4, 000 from those associated with the St. Mark’s project to draw the plans for the project and to guarantee its safe passage for approval for building.

The bank that is responsible for financing the project has stopped payment after an engineer working for the financial institution discovered a number of technical flaws with the drawings. The engineer warned the bank that if the flaws were not corrected the building face the risk of collapse from a number of persons inside it.

In light of the reports carried in this newspaper about the alleged wrong-doing within PPU, the official statement said that “the Ministry of Finance has referred the Physical Planning matter to the Public Service Commission and effective October 22nd 2005, an officer in the Physical Planning Unit has been interdicted, that is, the officer has been suspended on half pay until further notice, pending the conclusion of the current investigation”.

A full public statement will be released upon completion of the investigations”, it added.