Trinidad and Tobago Opposition Member of Parliament Stuart Young has announced he will pursue legal recourse against alleged bid rigging and cartel-style collusion among state entities involved in government contract awarding, a move that comes days after the country’s Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) ordered a freeze on $3.4 billion in housing contracts issued by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).
Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament building in Port of Spain on Friday, Young confirmed the OPR’s halt to the contract awards, which was first announced publicly the previous Thursday. The regulatory pause was implemented to allow for a full, independent review of the entire procurement process, after the OPR received a formal complaint filed by attorney Randall Mitchell on behalf of his client, local activist Wendell Eversley. In his complaint letter, Mitchell emphasized that the challenge was brought in Eversley’s capacity as a concerned citizen focused on upholding the legality, ethical standards and integrity of a public procurement exercise involving hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds.
Young told reporters that prior to Friday’s parliamentary session, he had received an official acknowledgment of the complaint from OPR chair Beverly Khan. He added that he, Mitchell and the legal team representing Eversley are preparing to turn over additional evidence related to the HDC contract awards to support the OPR’s ongoing investigation. Young alleged that the awarding process showed clear red flags of collusive bidding practices, saying, “I’m very happy to see procurement legislation is working. It is clear that the OPR, as they are entitled to under law, use the provision that allows them to investigate once there is anything in the atmosphere that concerns them. Now we will also be assisting with providing specific information.”
The MP pushed back against the current government’s framing of the contract selection as a standard “Design-Build-Finance” (DBF) arrangement, calling the explanation a deliberate misleading smokescreen. Even for DBF contracts, Young argued, all bidders must meet formal qualification requirements, and the HDC is legally required to guarantee the purchase of completed housing units—unlike private sector developments where developers sell units directly to buyers. He further noted that the HDC did not open the contract process to a public, open tender; instead, the process was limited to a select group of pre-chosen participants, a structure that he says justified his allegations of bid rigging.
Young also revealed that this complaint is part of a broader push to crack down on widespread non-compliance among state-owned enterprises across Trinidad and Tobago. He and the legal team have already sent multiple formal communications to the OPR flagging other suspected breaches of procurement law, and Young said additional cases will be made public in the near future. As one example of systemic non-compliance, Young noted that most state entities fail to meet their legal obligation to publish planned tender and procurement opportunities, openly disregarding the country’s procurement regulations. “We will continue to go after them and myself, in particular, using the law,” he said.
Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzales, MP for Arouca/Lopinot, echoed Young’s comments outside Parliament Friday, saying he was not surprised by the OPR’s decision to halt the HDC contracts. Gonzales stressed that the main opposition People’s National Movement will pursue the case aggressively to protect the interests of Trinidad and Tobago’s citizens. “There are serious issues with this procurement. As more information and more evidence come to hand, the People’s National Movement will be prosecuting this matter to the very hilt, in defence of the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” Gonzales said.
While Gonzales said the opposition is holding back on releasing some details out of prudence, he gave a firm assurance that the investigation would be pursued to its conclusion. “We will ensure that taxpayers are not robbed by this corrupt regime. There is a lot of information we have on this particular issue, and I can tell you that it is one of the biggest scandals facing this Government at this point in time. We are not surprised; it was just a matter of time for this to happen, but our eyes are on it,” he added.