$100M for police chief to fight crime

POLICE COMMISSIONER Trevor Paul could get at least $100 million in the 2004/2005 Budget to help the Police Service fight crime in Trinidad and Tobago. This was disclosed yesterday by Works and Transport Minister Franklin Khan during a meeting of the parliamentary Joint Select Committee (Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions) with Paul and the Police Service Commission (PSC) at the Red House. Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma recommended that the Police Commissioner be given a budget of not less than $100 million to help him improve the efficiency of the Police Service. “He will get more than that,” Khan interjected. Committee chairman, Independent Senator Prof Ramesh Deosaran said, “I am happy to hear they (police) are getting a sufficient amount so we can be heading into a new era.” He lamented that in the past the budget given to the police was always drastically cut. He recalled that in 2001, the police requested a budget of $95 million but only received $23 million.

“It is a serious state of affairs. The evil is now catching up with us, and people are getting blamed all around for things they have complained about,” Deosaran said. Prime Minister Patrick Manning will present a $22 billion package in Parliament next month. The Ministries of National Security, Health, Education and Science, Technology and Tertiary Education will be the Budget’s major beneficiaries. National Security Minister Martin Joseph said the ministry’s budget proposals are already well advanced. At Thursday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill said Government has already selected a Budget date and Prime Minister Patrick Manning would make a final determination on this date when he returns from Cuba tomorrow. Enill also said there was no question about the National Security Ministry receiving funding at the expense of other Government ministries.