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Francis Allison resigned as Peru's housing, construction and sanitation minister on Sunday, less than four months after being sworn-in by President Alan Garcia.

The former mayor of Lima's Magdalena district, Francis Allison has submitted his resignation claiming that earthquake victims in southern Peru deserve a minister who can work for them full time, instead of defending himself from certain accusations.

In a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Allison said he is 'frustrated and sad' at failing to carry out his reconstruction project in the southern provinces, adding that he has been a victim of a defamation campaign.

Housing Minister Francis Allison said recently he did not communicate to the president his work relationship with the Business Track (BT) firm because it was not "publicly relevant."

Allison said he made this decision because he considered BT, a firm which had been investigated for wire-tapping, to be a legal entity.

An official said he did not evade the two previous summons made by Parliament to clear up the issue, since in both cases he was attending work meetings in the country's interior.

Lastly, Allison said that he did honest work and that his only aim has been to improve his family's circumstances.

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