Head of the Public Service Reynold Cooper says former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Sport Ashwin Creed, one of the people at the centre of the Life Sport investigation, was appointed to work as a PS in the Office of the Prime Minister because “he was due for promotion.” His time there will be short as he is due for retirement in April.
Creed, who had been on extended leave since May last year, returned to work at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday. But Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, claiming Creed was given the new position by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, called the development troubling in light of the ongoing Life Sport probe.
Contacted by the T&T Guardian yesterday, Cooper said Creed proceeded on vacation leave last year and was due to end his tenure in April 2015. This effectively means he has two months in office before he qualifies for retirement. While on leave, however, Cooper said Creed, who was appointed by the Public Service Commission on March 11, 2012, wrote to the director of human resources in the Sport Ministry “indicating that he had decided to retire from the service with immediate effect.
“Creed was then informed that his retirement can only take effect at the end of his vacation leave in April 2015,” Cooper said. He added: “In January 2015, Creed informed me of his intention to resume duties. A vacant permanent secretary position was identified in the OPM to accommodate his return to duty.” Asked why he was sent to the OPM and not another ministry, Cooper said he was also “due for a promotion.”
In a statement issued hours after news broke on the issue, Rowley said it was “a rather disturbing development,” especially after reports last year indicated that Creed had gone on pre-retirement leave. Previously, Creed’s attorney, former Legal Affairs Minister Peter Taylor, said it was not true to say that Creed was not expected to return to work. Cooper did not respond to questions on whether the PM transferred Creed.
But Rowley yesterday said Cooper must explain if “he has made any recommendation to the Public Service Commission regarding the nature of the very serious allegations made against Mr Creed in the (Life Sport) audit report and other complaints.” According to Rowley, Cooper “has a responsibility to submit such a report and allow the Public Service Commission to investigate all allegations.”
Rowley dismissed claims by Communications Minister Vasant Bharath that the Government had nothing to do with Creed’s appointment at the OPM. He said Bharath “has once again misled the population when he stated that the Prime Minister played no part in Mr Ashwin Creed being assigned to the Office of the Prime Minister.”
A source said they could not understand the promotion argument being forwarded, since the only higher posting a permanent secretary could take up in the OPM’s office was as adviser to the PM and that clearly was not the case with Creed. Rowley said the Opposition held the “strong” view that it was Persad-Bissessar who transferred Creed from the Ministry of Sport to the OPM. He said if that was not so “we must be told under whose authority he was removed to her office, without her knowledge and consent.”
Creed and his attorney were unavailable for comment when the T&T Guardian attempted to reach them yesterday.