Watson Duke, the newly elected president of the Public Service Association (PSA), has said he intends to launch an audit, not just into the financial accounts of the PSA, but into all major projects that were financed with the funds of public servants under the union’s former regime.

’As we speak a team is being assembled to look into all projects of the PSA...We are going to have an audit into every living thing that moves under the PSA,’ Duke said during a press conference hosted at the PSA headquarters, at Abercromby Street, Port of Spain yesterday.

Duke, who was surrounded by the newly elected members of his executive team, addressed the public for the first time yesterday as PSA president, pledging transparency and accountability and also vowing to transform the PSA into a ’premium trade union’ that will provide representation to ’all public servants.’

As it relates to the PSA’s multi-million-dollar housing project, which was developed under Jennifer Baptiste-Primus as part of a vision to provide affordable housing to union members, Duke stopped short of saying that the project was in jeopardy, but acknowledged that all was not well with the housing programme. He said he had not received any substantial information about the project from Baptiste-Primus who demitted office on November 25.

Duke said that for those persons who invested in the housing projects, many of them were still awaiting their homes, and a number of them have filed lawsuits against the PSA.

He said once the audit into the PSA finances and projects are completed they intend to meet with all stakeholders to decide on the way forward.

General Secretary of the PSA Oral Saunders said although the housing project was touted as one that would provide affordable housing to public servants many of them could not afford to pay the base price of $895,000 for the houses at La Fortresse, at Long Circular Road, St James or $1.2 million for houses at La Viviendas in Valencia. He said the union will now move to address this issue to ensure that every public servant is able to own a home.

Contacted yesterday, Stephen Thomas, former vice president of the union said that the former executive had no problem with offering whatever information it has on the housing project once it officially hands over the office of the PSA to the newly-elected president and his team today.