Is there an elite squad within the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) that has been specially selected to form the security detail for Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell?
THE NEW TODAY is forced to ask this question in light of information now in the public domain of close to a quarter of a million dollars to be paid from the public purse to 14 police officers assigned to the Prime Minister, in lieu of holidays due to them.
This figure is already raising many eyebrows in the country especially among teachers and public officers who have been struggling without success to get the Mitchell-led New National Party (NNP) administration to agree to the 25% gratuity and pension payment due to them based on their interpretation of the provisions of the Grenada Constitution.
It should also be noted that this information is coming close on the heels of another financial scandal to rock the NNP regime that many have called “Cellphonegate”, in which one operative of the ruling party was exposed for illegally running up a state bill of $70, 000.00 in just three months.
The issue of this so-called elite squad around the Prime Minister that is costing the taxpayers so much money must be a cause of national concern.
This squad must also be the envy of other units within the force as they are seemingly the only ones in RGPF that are benefitting in this manner financially.
The message must be clear to other members of the force that you can work as hard as possible but if you are not part of the elite squad then benefits like payment in lieu of holiday will never come your way.
This system is totally wrong and should be corrected as a matter of urgency as every unit in the police force is important in the grand scheme of things.
Are the authorities saying that the members of the so-called elite squad are more important than the firefighters who climb mountain after mountain in the country to put out bush fires every dry season?
Are the powers-that-be sending a message to the rest of the police force that the drug squad members who might stay many nights in the bushes and forests to keep this country safe from drug pushers are not as important as the elite squad around the Prime Minister?
The fact of the matter is that public officers are normally required to take their holiday leave, failing which they will not get paid for it and might end up losing all of it.
It is puzzling to think that those who are running the police force will not make any adequate provisions for a system to be put in place to send in a fresh batch of officers to relieve those officers in the elite squad who are due to take their holidays.
This newspaper checked with former Prime Minister Tillman Thomas who indicated that during his stint in office the State did not pay a single cent extra to police officers assigned to him as they were always given their holidays when due to them.
Why is the situation now so different with Prime Minister Mitchell? Why would he want a different arrangement at the expense of the taxpayers? If he had to foot the bill himself would Dr. Mitchell put
his hand in his pocket and take out quarter million dollars to pay persons in lieu of holidays?
Is one man in the country bigger than the system put in place by RGPF that has worked in the past with other Prime Ministers? Another question is – who is in charge of this elite squad around the Prime Minister and to whom are these officers reporting as regards their work schedule?
During the 2003-08 term in office of Prime Minister Mitchell, the then Commissioner of Police Winston James made a startling revelation after a member of the Special Branch was caught red-handed spying on
an executive meeting of the congress party and his special tape-recorder was taken away from him.
The Head of the Special Branch at the time was Superintendent Anthony DeGale who was often seen as part of Dr. Mitchell’s security detail in travelling around the island.
Commissioner James said then that Supt. DeGale never reported to him, leading to speculation that the Head of the Special Branch was breaking police rules and regulations, as well as protocol by
reporting directly to the Prime Minister.
Dr. Mitchell has now taken full responsibility and exonerated the Acting Commissioner of Police, Edvin Martin, on the current issue of the quarter million dollars to be paid to 14 police officers in this elite squad.
Under what regulation or law in the country is Dr. Mitchell taking personal responsibility for the payment of this large sum to the elite officers? Is he acting outside of the law? Are we seeing a blatant dictatorship at work?
Is Grenada also seeing the rebirth of the mongoose gang type of politics with the creation of an elite squad to serve the needs of a Prime Minister?
Is this so-called elite squad similar to the Tonton Macoute in Haiti under the Duvalier dictatorship? Is there any known or conceivable security threat to Dr. Mitchell as Prime Minister or an abnormal situation in the country that warrants this kind of assault on the Treasury to pay 14 members of this elite squad quarter
million dollars in lieu of holiday?