Trinidad ministerial appointment cancelled after drunk driving info surfaces

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(Trinidad Express) The swearing in of Senator Garvin Simonette to replace corruption-accused Marlene McDonald as Minister of Public Administration, has been cancelled.

According to a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister at 1.46p.m. yesterday, the President was asked to revoke the appointment of McDonald.

However, the Prime Minister retains the Public Administration portfolio “until a new appointment is made shortly”.

According to the Office of the Prime Minister, “the announced swearing in of Senator Garvin Simonette to this position has been cancelled in light of new information”.

The ‘new information’ may be that a man with the name Gavin Simonette was charged with 2014 with Driving Under the Influ-ence (DUI), in Brevard County, Oklahoma.

There is a mug shot of Simonette appearing online, giving details of the arrest.

Simonette served as a Temporary Government Senator during the 11th Republican Parliament. He was appointed a Govern-ment Senator on September 28, 2018.