News Report Trinidad & Tobago Sunday July 6th 2025

News Report Trinidad & Tobago Sunday July 6th 2025

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Terminated CEPEP Contractor backs down after PNM’s legal challenge
A legal challenge filed against the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) by a contractor has collapsed, less than 24 hours after it was filed in the High Court.
Stephen Samuel’s Contractors Ltd, which had moved urgently to reverse CEPEP’s decision to terminate its contract, withdrew its claim form, statement of case, and application for injunctive relief on Friday one day after launching the action.
The company’s attorneys, led by St Clair O’Neil and Senior Counsel Larry Lalla, had served a pre-action protocol letter on CEPEP CEO Keith Eddy on July 3, calling for the immediate rescission of a termination notice dated June 27. The letter gave CEPEP until 3 p.m. that same day to respond or face court action.
The termination, which took effect immediately, was part of a wider CEPEP decision to cancel contracts for more than 300 contractors, reportedly affecting upwards of 10,000 workers across the country.
In the pre-action letter, attorneys for Samuel’s company described the termination as oppressive, unlawful, and against public policy, arguing that it breached both the express terms of the contract and the principles of natural justice. They claimed the contractor had performed its duties satisfactorily and had been given no warning or reason for the sudden termination.
The legal team also contested the validity of Clause 15 of the CEPEP contract, which allows for termination with 30 days’ notice or payment in lieu, suggesting that it constituted an unfair contract term under Section 11 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1985. They argued that the clause disproportionately favoured CEPEP and lacked reciprocal protections for the contractor.
However, CEPEP’s response, issued through Freedom Law Chambers and led by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, cast doubt on the legitimacy of a contract extension signed between the two parties on April 23, 2025, five days before the general election.
CEPEP’s attorneys raised concerns about the timing, process, and legality of that extension, noting that the contract had already been extended until November 2026, yet was further extended to 2029, despite 18 months still remaining on the previous agreement.
In their response letter, CEPEP demanded a full explanation and documentation, questioning whether the addendum had been processed in accordance with procurement policy, board approval, or principles of transparency. The legal team alleged that the sudden renewal appeared to bypass public tendering and “raised serious questions of political interference, nepotism, and possible backdating.”
Later that evening, on July 3, CEPEP was served with the contractor’s urgent High Court filings, including affidavits and a draft order. But by the next day, attorneys for the contractor filed a notice of withdrawal, effectively ending the matter.
CEPEP, in a subsequent letter dated July 4, accused the contractor of abusing the legal process, alleging that the claim had been politically motivated and poorly grounded in law.
“This claim was misconceived, hopeless, frivolous, and vexatious and doomed to fail,” the company’s attorneys stated. “It was clearly an abuse of the court’s process whereby your client was illegitimately invoking the court’s jurisdiction for the dubious purpose of providing perceived legal political ammunition.”
CEPEP also disclosed that the contractor had received over $7 million in payments from 2018 to 2025 and had consistently benefitted from contract renewals, despite CEPEP’s stated model of offering short-term contracting opportunities.
With the claim withdrawn, CEPEP has indicated its intent to pursue legal costs and left open the possibility of referring the matter to the relevant authorities for further investigation into alleged breaches of law or contract.