Monday, March 24 2008

Artist Leroy Clarke is yet to cash a half-a-million dollar cheque from the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs.

Parliamentary secretary in this same ministry Junia Regrello has an unpaid cheque of $500. Both cheques are among hundreds that have remained unpaid by the ministry for the period October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.

Regrello was an alderman in the San Fernando City Corporation prior to contesting last November’s General Election in which he won the San Fernando West seat for the PNM.

The San Fernando City Corporation has unpaid cheques of $1,700 and $2,500 respectively. TCL Skiffle Bunch Orchestra, of which Regrello was captain prior to the election, has an unpaid cheque of $2,000.

Regrello and Clarke’s names appear among the names of several persons, statutory bodies and companies with unpaid cheques from the ministry for this period, and the list was published in the newspapers yesterday.

The amount on Clarke’s unpaid cheque is $579,000. There are also unpaid cheques of $22,422 and $40,000 respectively to national airline BWIA (which was closed on December 31, 2006) and the Trinidad and Tobago Masculine Excellence Network.

And an organisation, the World Calypso Company, has not cashed in a $850,000 cheque, among the more substantial amounts issued for payment by the ministry.