Wade: No audit of police guns

He made the assertion based on findings from the PAAC’s previous interview of the TTPS, and then sought more details from Ministry of Finance deputy permanent secretary, Savitri Seepersad.

He asked if she knew of any talks between her ministry and Acting Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams, regarding initiatives to audit the TTPS’s arms and ammunition? Seepersad replied that she did not know of any such talks. Earlier Comptroller of Accounts, Catherine Laban, supported Mark’s suggestion for a new body to be set up to oversee the internal audit of different Government Ministries.

The committee had already learnt of a general shortage of internal audit staff in many ministries and doubts as to whether the staff were adequately qualified and trained, leading Mark to lament “a crisis of verification and a mismatching of skills, expectations and possible outcomes”.

He asked Acting Auditor General Lorelly Pujadas, if a new body was needed to oversee internal audits across the State. She replied that there was a need to define who was responsible for the internal audit function, as this was not stated in legislation.