Government is backing the recent decision by the Police Service Commission to dismiss former Police Superintendent Simon Mc Bean, calling it most reasonable and predictable.
Chief spokesman Dr. Roger Luncheon said yesterday that even as he empathized with the former cop, the commission’s discretion was straightforward and “even if it were the Office of the President, the employee would have been dismissed.”
Mc Bean received a dismissal letter on Friday over his unauthorized decision to proceed on ‘no pay leave’ to pursue a scholarship. He told the media at a press conference last week that he was not given a hearing on the matter before marching orders were given to him and he only learnt that disciplinary action was being taken against him after it was leaked to the press.
“I feel strongly about the decision because a service official in the security sector cannot be so trivial with rules and regulations of the institution,” Luncheon declared.
However, he said that the next time entities are giving scholarships, they would ensure that more consultation is done with the authorities. He called the whole incident reckless and a waste of time and resources.
Mc Bean at the press conference had told reporters at the New Amsterdam Town Hall on Friday that he was receiving his “full salary” during the disputed period and felt that the matter had been sorted out.
Mc Bean had secured a scholarship for a Master’s Degree in Global Security at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008.
He was awarded the scholarship from a field of 250 persons who had applied and so he made a request to the Guyana Police Force for study leave to proceed on the scholarship and was disappointed that it was not granted.
Not wanting to throw away the opportunity, Mc Bean applied for ‘no pay’ leave two months before leaving for the UK but there was no response. He said he was left with no choice but to proceed on his three-month accumulated annual leave.
After returning he resumed normal duties until he received the dismissal letter from the force on Friday. The letter stated that his service had been terminated as of December 25, 2007, the day after his three-month annual leave ended.
