On or not? A question mark hangs over the National Security Ministry’s acquisition of armoured personnel carriers and armoured SUVs which former national security minister Gary Griffith was working on before being sacked.
Griffith, while in office, had insisted last year the vehicles were necessary to protect security personnel in areas where they might come under fire. The armoured SUVs were also for use by state officials and visiting dignitaries. A month before his dismissal Griffith had complained of “red tape” in the ministry but projected they might be obtained in two months.
Yesterday, when T&T Guardian contacted new National Security Minister Carl Alfonso, he gave no reply to the query and the line suddenly went dead. Alfonso didn’t reply to several follow-up calls on the issue. Communication Minister Vasant Bharath also did not answer calls. Meanwhile, lawyer Ian Brooks said he felt Griffith’s allegations concerning various ministers’ involvement in the issue concerning PCA director David West warranted investigation.
When asked yesterday if the reported allegations were sufficient basis for investigation, Brooks replied that the allegations were troubling since they involved a Cabinet colleague and also went to the root of alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice.
He said: “Those certainly warrant investigations. Even if it is only presented in the public domain, the police ought to investigate it, moving with dispatch and impartiality. If not it could leave the situation open to speculation on whether what Griffith said was really true and if he might be making it up or, alternatively, speculation that he was being persuaded not to go forward with it.”
On whether Griffith had filed a report, police officers said the entire matter under investigation was a sensitive issue and it was not in the interest of the investigation to speak about it. They stressed this when told an alleged statement with accusations against some ministers had been leaked to a newspaper and the allegations were already in the public domain.
Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal, one of those against whom Griffith made allegations, said yesterday he couldn’t comment since Griffith was alleged to have given a report to police. “I notice Mr Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj commenting, so he’s obviously ruled himself out as an attorney to represent any of those matters,” he added.
The Law Association’s council was due to hold its monthly meeting yesterday, officials said. But they did not expect discussions on West’s allegations against the former attorney general to be discussed by the council alone, since association members might want to be involved in such discussion, they added.
Also, there has been no comment by lawyer Gregory Delzin in response to the association’s indicating there were no grounds to probe new Attorney General Garvin Nicholas. Delzin had raised an alleged issue which occurred 14 years ago when Nicholas was in pupilage at Trinity chambers.
The Law Association said the issue was dealt with and resolved and also told Delzin it was mischievous and unfortunate that a matter which was resolved had found itself into the public domain. Nicholas maintains he was accredited to practise in the UK and locally after being called to the Bar in the UK in 2001, returning home subsequently, practising law when called to the Bar here in 2002 and returning to the UK in 2008/9 for UK pupilage. After that he received accreditation and returned home again.