(Trinidad Express) Former police commissioner Gary Griffith said yesterday the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) was “starved of resources” while he was at the helm.
He added, however, that, under his tenure, and more specifically during the Covid-19 pandemic, the TTPS managed to “maintain optimal function”.
Griffith stated in a Facebook post yesterday it was no secret that while he sat in the chair of commissioner of police he had numerous run-ins “with the powers that be at the Ministry of Finance as it pertained to the release of adequate resources to continue to fund the management of the TTPS”.
He was responding to the lead article in this week’s Sunday Express headlined “Wild Spending…Audit report into TTPS contracts, hirings reveals bid rigging, collusion.”
The article outlined the findings contained in the Ministry of Finance Central Audit Committee’s Final Report on the Audit of Procurement of Goods and Services and the Hiring of the Staff on Contract undertaken by the TTPS from 2017-2021.
The Report noted that various instances of financial mismanagement within the TTPS were unearthed which included the Commissioner signing off on contracts valued in excess of $1 million for goods and services which he did not have the delegated authority to do.
Abuse of process
Some of the multi-million-dollar contracts were deliberately broken up to bypass oversight and scrutiny in the awarding, the report stated, adding that by breaking up the contracts, various businesses were facilitated and both the Ministerial Tenders Committee and the Central Tenders Board were overlooked.
“These procurements were done internally by the TTPS despite the fact that the values exceeded the CoP’s limit. As such they were neither forwarded to the Special Tenders Committee and the Central Tenders Board for approval. This process is an abuse of the TTPS’ policy as it is a direct contravention of the delegation of authority for the procurement of Goods and Services outlined in the Procurement Policy,” the Report noted.
In his response, Griffith said: “It is no secret, whilst I sat in the chair of CoP, I have had numerous ‘run ins’ with the powers that be at the Ministry of Finance as it pertained to the release of adequate resources to continue to fund the management of the TTPS.
“What the Express perhaps omitted is the fact that the report crosses the period of TWO CoPs, myself and the previous CoP, as well as quite a few of the vehicle procurement matters required Cabinet or National Security Council Approval,” Griffith stated.
The article did however state that Stephen Williams was acting CoP from 2012 to 2018 while Griffith’s tenure was from August 2018 to 2021 .
Optimal function
Griffith went on to add that during the recent state of emergency and Covid-19 period, there was a need for additional manpower, vehicles, patrols and equipment within the TTPS.
“All of this, whilst having to manage lack of timely resourcing by the Ministry of Finance, the TTPS managed to not only maintain optimal function, but to do so with minimum resourcing,” he said.
The former top cop said since he demitted office, has had not been afforded the right to address any such matters, as reports seem to move from its drafters to the media.
“I advise that as I have done in the past, welcome audit procedures once they are undertaken above board, and once I have been provided the opportunity of review and response – something which has been elusive for obvious reasons.”
