MANNING
PORT-OF-SPAIN, CMC:
TRINIDAD AND Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning has said that he would be reorganising his government in the wake of the resignation of Communications and Works Minister, Franklin Khan.
The minister resigned amid allegations that he and another senior minister received a bribe from a governing party official.
An official statement issued from the Office of the Prime Minister said that Manning had accepted Khan's resignation during a meeting at his official residence Sunday morning.
"I firmly maintain my innocence of the charges levelled against me by Councillor Dhansam Dhansook and intend to work assiduously until my name is fully cleared of these baseless allegations," Khan said in a written statement.
Manning had acknowledged last month that he had forwarded the names of two senior ministers to the Integrity Commission as reports of the allegation became public.
While he did not name the ministers concerned, Khan and Energy Minister, Eric Williams, were named in a letter Councillor Dhansook had written to Manning and which was later obtained by the main opposition party United National Congress (UNC).
Both Williams and Khan publicly denied the allegations.
The statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday said that Khan had indicated he would remain a backbencher "while he continues to take all available steps to clear his name".
