By Chantalé Fletcher
OROPOUCHE East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal describes Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s behaviour regarding the commissioner of police (CoP) as an over abuse of power.
He was speaking at the United National Congress (UNC) virtual meeting on Monday night.
Dr Moonilal slammed the prime minister for saying that there was a chain of command in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and therefore could operate without a CoP.
He asked several questions of Dr Rowley concerning inquiries into charges laid against the head of legal of the TTPS Christian Chandler.
Dr Moonilal asked, “Have you been receiving police officers at the Diplomatic Centre to discuss matters or give directions regarding Gary Griffith?
“Have you received a woman police constable (WPC) by the name of Marshall and have you received her as a visitor at the Diplomatic Centre?”
He said, “The allegation was that a young lady was on a pleasure boat down the islands, who was in breach of a health regulation.
“You know they got a search warrant to search the house. So you in a boat in the sea and the police get a warrant to search your house and seize your phone.
“What that have to do with being on the sea? They are establishing a Gestapo style police service with Rowley in charge as Papa Doc.”
Dr Moonilal said, “Today, as I speak the officers and appointed employees of the TTPS, who they believe have associated with Gary Griffith have all been fired, terminated because it is believed that he hired them. So, they have been loyal to Gary Griffith. You cannot operate like this.”
He said, “If another CoP comes and he or she decides they don’t want certain contracts fine.
“They are setting up a Tonton Macoute in the police service.”
The Tonton Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier.
Dr Moonilal said this type of behaviour always existed in the People’s National Movement (PNM) and referred to 1964 when Patrick Solomon, a national security minister, went to the police station to bail out his son. He said calypsonian Sparrow sang about the incident.
Dr Moonilal said, “The PNM Leaders and ministers always had this inclination to flirt with the police service as if they were police too. And we are seeing it today, Rowley believes he is the CoP.”
He asked, “Did a WPC come to visit you at the Diplomatic Centre? The only WPC that should go at the Diplomatic Centre was Camille Robinson-Regis, only she as a WPC can go there, nobody else.”
Dr Moonilal said the WPC is involved in sensitive investigations.
He said, “And, if this is true that she paid a call and visited the Diplomatic Centre, we must know for what and to speak to who. What was her purpose there?”
The Oropouche MP also demanded to know why the PM lost confidence in the former Commissioner of Police.
“Is it because Gary Griffith did not want lock up innocent people?”
Dr Moonilal said what was happening was a dangerous precedent.
“In the future, officers who believe that they have something that Keith Rowley may be interested may be tempted to go to him with information,” he said.
