Communications Minister Vasant Bharath said Government played no part in the appointment of former Ministry of Sports permanent secretary Ashwin Creed to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). Bharath said the decision to have Creed break his pre-retirement leave to serve as a permanent secretary at the OPM was done solely by head of the Public Service Reynold Cooper.
Creed, along with former directors of the controversial Life Sport programme, Cornelius Price, Theodore Charles and Ronnell Barclay, are embroiled in a lawsuit against the Finance and Economy Ministry over an audit into the scrapped programme.
A review of the audit showed improper procurement practices, overpayment for goods and services, fraud, theft and possible breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act. Police also suggested that suspected criminals occupied supervisory and coordination positions within the programme. Bharath told the T&T Guardian Creed has not been charged with any violations and is within his right to re-enter the service after taking pre-retirement leave last July.
“That is a matter for the public service. In fact, as head of the public service, Mr Reynold Cooper is on record as stating that it was his decision to accept Mr Creed back into the service because as far as he was concerned, there was no reason to deny him an opportunity.
“I think it is a matter of public record that Mr Creed had left the service, or had asked for pre-retirement leave, but apparently it is also his right to request to come back to the service once he has service left. This is not a matter for the Prime Minister or any minister to determine, this is a matter for the public service,” Bharath
“I also want to put on record the fact that it has been the practice of previous prime ministers to involve themselves in the decision making of the public service but not so with this particular prime minister. Essentially Mr Creed’s appointment or coming back into the service really is a formality,”
When asked whether it would be a conflict of interest for Creed to hold a position as an accounting officer at the OPM amid claims of impropriety in the Life Sport Programme and his lawsuit against the ministry, the minister again stressed that it was not a matter for the Government to determine.
“That does not in any way deter from the fact that he has the opportunity to come back and has every right to do so once the public service allows him to do that. “Mr Creed may have the Ministry of Finance in court, but Mr Creed has not been charged, as far as I am aware, with any particular infraction. Until that happens, only then will certain decisions be made,” Bharath said.