PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC - Trinidad's Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo on Monday said that the state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL) had spent more than TT$60 million on audits, but had failed to submit "a single audited financial statement to the Ministry of Finance in over nine years".

Tancoo, delivering the first budget of the Kamla Persad Bissessar coalition administration, told legislators that the money had been paid to Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"Shockingly, even in the absence of these audited accounts, the former Minister of Finance repeatedly approved financing for CAL in 2017, 2018, 2019 and as recently as March 2025 to cover operational shortfalls."

Tancoo accused the former finance minister Colm Imbert of closing "his eyes as CAL descended into inefficiency, non-compliance and fiscal indiscipline, leaving behind not a national airline but a national liability.

"Worse yet, he actively fuelled this reckless behaviour by repeatedly approving billions in financing without demanding accountability," Tancoo said, adding that in so doing, the former government minister "facilitated mismanagement, normalised waste and corruption and abandoned his responsibility of fiduciary oversight.

"This is nothing short of criminal negligence. We have now installed a strong board of directors who are making the hard decisions required to fix our national airline," he told legislators.

Earlier, CAL confirmed the immediate resignation of its chief executive officer Garvin Medera and that to ensure continuity and stability, chief operating officer, Nirmala Ramai, has been appointed acting chief executive officer "until further notice".

It said that under the "guidance" of the board of directors she "will work closely with the senior leadership team to support the airline through this transition".

The statement gave no reasons for the "immediate resignation" but thanked Medera for his years of service.

CAL said that it would "continue to operate its full schedule, with no disruption to customers or partners".

The statement by CAL on Monday said that as part of the new transition, the board and senior leadership team will be focusing on five key initiatives, namely supporting employees and stakeholders with open communication and care, reviewing operations to increase efficiency and modernisation, enhancing the customer experience with improved services, developing a long-term, financially responsible and sustainable growth plan and conducting full and thorough audits of all departments and processes, to strengthen governance, safety, and accountability.

"The airline also reaffirmed its commitment to developing and promoting talent from within the organisation, before seeking external candidates, to provide employees with clear opportunities for growth and career advancement.

T&T finance minister says CAL spent millions of dollars on audits without submitting a 'single audited statement'