Lalla denies approval for PM to hand over letter

Chairman of the Public Services Commission Kenneth Lalla has categorically denied reports that he approved the  procedure of having Prime Minister Patrick Manning personally hand over the letter of appointment to the Commissioner of Police.

He was responding to reports in the media that he was privy to the process (of having Prime Minister Patrick Manning hand over the letter to CoP Everald Snaggs) and indicated he had no objections to what was being done. “That is totally false. I reject that statement,” Lalla told Newsday yesterday. Political sources told Newsday that Lalla had consented to the change in procedure. Lalla explained that the procedure followed over the last 15 years has been that the letter is signed by the Director of Personnel Administration (DPA) and sent to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Secretary, who “as a public officer” delivers the letter.
 
He said on this occasion the Director of Personnel Administration Mikey Mahabir indicated to him that the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister and Head of the Public Service, Zaida Rajnauth had made a request to have the letter of appointment sent to her.  He said that as the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister is also Head of the Public Service she has “superior status” to that of the PS in the Ministry of National Security. He therefore agreed to the adjustment. But Lalla stressed, there was “no mention whatsoever” that the “destination” of the letter would be the Prime Minister. “I had no knowledge whatsoever that the letter was being requested for the Prime Minister. And it was beyond my imagination and contemplation that that would have been the case.  Had that been told to me, I would have objected. So  it is totally false to say that I consented (to that arrangement)” he said.

Reiterating that the normal procedure is that the letter is signed by the DPA and sent to the PS in National Security, Lalla stated that he had always held the view  that this was a wrong procedure. He added that his reading of the constitution suggested that the letter of appointment be delivered by the Police Service Commission. He said it had been his experience that when the Commissions (Public Service Commission and Police Service Commission) make appointments and these letters go to the Permanent Secretaries, often these letters are not delivered until months later to the public servant. Lalla said at a recent meeting with the THA in Tobago, it was brought to his attention that a public officer was promoted, but never got the letter of promotion until after his retirement. “So this situation (of having a third party deliver letters of appointments etc) warranted change. This recent incident (involving the letter of appointment of the CoP) merely accelerated the change,” he said.

Lalla stressed that he was in no contest with the Government. “But we all have a duty to perform. The Prime Minister has his duty, the Permanent Secretary has his/her duty and the PSC and its chairman has its duty,” he said, adding that as Chairman he ensured that the PSC kept “within its jurisdiction.” Following the unprecedented action of the Prime Minister  to hand the letter of appointment personally to Everald Snaggs, the PSC revoked the customary method by which letters of appointment are handed over to senior police officers. The PSC would now sign the letters of appointment and promotion instead of the DPA, and the Chairman of the PSC would deliver such letters to the appointee at any regular meeting of the Commission.