The cancellation of the contract with an American-based organisation designed to fight gang violence will be discussed in the House of Assembly on Friday.

Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, will address the cancellation of the Operation Ceasefire contract in a ministerial statement.

A spokesman for the National Network for Safe Communities confirmed to The Royal Gazette last week that the Government had cut short the Operation Ceasefire programme.

Cabinet minister Diallo Rabain, in a Facebook posting over the weekend, said the contract had “expired on April 1”.

Mr Rabain said: “The first opportunity to address the matter will be when the House convenes on Friday.”

He added that “hard work is being done behind the scenes”.

Jeff Baron, the Shadow Minister of National Security, said there was “absolutely no truth” that the contract was up at the beginning of the month.

Mr Baron said: “That’s absolutely false. The bottom line is that it was a two-year contract that was signed.”

Mr Baron said the decision to cancel the contract was the Government’s choice to make.

He added: “The lack of transparency is the concerning part.”

The NNSC’s Group Violence Intervention, first developed as Operation Ceasefire, has been used to combat gun and gang-related crime in US cities.

The programme started in Bermuda last year.

The two-year deal between NNSC and the Bermuda Government, which was scheduled to end in the first half of next year, cost about $370,000.