As far as the Police Service Social and Welfare Association is concerned National Security Minister Emmanuel George has done nothing for the police. So said the association’s secretary, acting Insp Michael Seales, yesterday. His comment came in the wake of a report that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was planning to move George in a Cabinet reshuffle. The PM, however, claimed the report was premature, adding she had held no such talks with George or any other member of her Cabinet.
Seales said four days after George was sworn in, in April, the association met with him to discuss issues affecting the police, including the lengthy delay in promotions, especially from corporal to inspector. “We, the association, will have to say the relationship with the National Security Minister is dormant. “We will rather look at it as nonexistent because he has done nothing for us. He has not addressed any of our concerns we raised with him,” Seales said.
The only other occasion the association has interacted with George was at the National Security Ministry sports day two months ago, he added. After George was sworn in, Seales said, the relationship between him and the association had not developed. He added: “The association would not have engaged with Minister George long enough to determine his suitability as the National Security Minister.
“Our relationship with George has not blossomed enough for us to have an appreciation of him and for him to really have an appreciation of us and that is part of what makes it nonexistent. “We were hopeful when he first met with us but now we are disappointed because nothing has come out of that meeting.” Also expressing disappointment that George did not address concerns put forward by the association, Seales said that was not the case with the previous minister, Jack Warner.
He added: “Mr Warner did a tremendous job when he was national security minister and he was instrumental in police officers getting a nine per cent salary increase when they wanted to give us a mere five per cent. “He addressed our issues effectively and efficiently and we had an excellent relationship with him... it was an open-door policy.”
Brig John Sandy was fired in June last year and was replaced by Warner. In April this year, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said she had accepted Warner’s resignation as minister and appointed George. These successive changes, Seales said, have not been to the benefit of the association, the police and the public. He said: “When one minister replaces another, especially within that short period, we have to again look at the issues, concerns and even anti-crime initiatives from scratch.
“This is counter-productive, not only for police officers, but also to the public because it would mean more time being spent to review and examine existing issues, rather than discussing the way forward.”