The Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society has a new hand at the helm.
Edward Moodie has been appointed Acting President, taking over from Kwamini Allen, who has stepped aside to attend to personal matters.
Under this new leadership, the Society is promising a new era of transparency and accountability.
In an interview with TTT News, Mr. Moodie said a key priority is addressing concerns surrounding government subventions, which were recently affected due to the organisation’s failure to submit audited financial statements.
“The audited financial statements – we are working feverishly with this. We have a limitation with manpower, and we made some steps two days ago to address that, a motion was passed to address that. And I see in the very near future we will be able to be at the level where we are supposed to be. And I could assure the public, I could assure corporate sponsorship, that we are going to be there very soon.”
Mr. Moodie’s appointment comes at a time when the organisation’s auditing process has come under public scrutiny.
To address these concerns, he said the executive is prioritising unity and continuous communication to keep strategic goals on track.
“Instead of waiting to have an executive meeting, we are on the chat. We are looking at some of the policies that we want to set, and we are trying to make decisions continuously.”
In a move to restore critical financial support, Mr. Moodie also revealed that the organisation has passed a motion to formally register as a non-profit organisation.
Meanwhile, Director General Stephan Kishore says efforts are underway to strengthen its on-the-ground response capabilities across the country.
“I think we have close to 750 volunteers in our system. And it’s about preparing that human resource to be able to respond. Now, what we’re trying to also build on the ground is that capacity, just like how we have a team in Woodland, we have been building capacity with a team in Debe, we have teams in Las Lomas and across the country. These are the people that, if something does happen, they would be the Red Cross’s first response to anything in support of the State and primarily with the municipalities through their Disaster Management Units. They will work hand in hand with them.”
As the Society navigates these internal adjustments, Mr. Moodie is reassuring both the public and corporate partners that the organisation’s legacy of integrity remains intact.
“The Red Cross has always been about strict accountability, dealing with grants, international grants, funding. There’s a certain level of accountability that you have to adhere to. And we have never had, over the history, had issues with any of our partners through grant funding.”