Grant questions wisdom of decision
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FORMER Attorney-General (AG) Dr. Dennis Merchant and retired Commissioner of Police (Ret. COP) Robert Jeffers have been appointed consultants to the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) via the Ministry of National Security.
This announcement was made in a press release from the Police Public Relations Office, which stated that Merchant and Jeffers were introduced to members of the force by the Minister of National Security, Hon. Sam Condor, at the Police Force Recreation Room in Basseterre on Friday, July 16, 2010.
The release further stated that in addition to the two consultants, Minister Condor’s visiting team had included his Permanent Secretary, Astona Browne, which was welcomed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Stafford Liburd.
“The Minister in his remarks to the gathering declared that one of the reasons for his visit was to introduce Dr. Dennis Merchant and Mr. Robert Jeffers to the organisation as consultants to the Police Force via the Ministry of National Security,” the release read.
And another reason was to sensitise the lawmen of the negative impact crime has on the development of the country.
However, Political Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) Lindsay Grant is questioning the wisdom of Minister Condor’s announcement.
“It is difficult for me or any fair-minded citizen of this country to uncover the wisdom of these two appointments…Here we have two gentlemen who have held two of the most significant posts in our justice system as well as our national security within the last five to six years. Dr. Merchant was our country’s Attorney-General and Mr. Robert Jeffers was our country’s Police Chief as recently as 2008.
“None of these gentlemen, while holding these offices, were able to curb the crime in our country. In fact, under their watch, crime escalated every single year. So it begs the question why are these two gentlemen who have essentially failed in their former roles as prominent figures in our justice system are now hired and paid as consultants in the Ministry which they made no positive impact to crime while they were there,” Grant was quoted as saying in a PAM Secretariat press release dated July 17, 2010.
The release also stated that Jeffers retired in 2008 after having successive years of record-breaking crime, including the number of murders which saw a drastic increase during his tenure as COP.
Commenting on Dr. Merchant, the release noted that he was the Director of Public Prosecutions before serving for some four years as the Federation’s AG. “During his tenure as Attorney General the number of murders in the country grew from 16 in 2006 to 27 in 2009, a more than 50% increase. In 2009 he became the first Attorney-General in the entire Commonwealth to be held in contempt of court,” it added.
“The hiring or appointment of Merchant and Jeffers is another example of government wastage and mismanagement of already scarce financial resources. These appointments are another means of lining or filling the pockets of party activists,” said Grant.
PAM’s Political Leader also asked, “What can they bring now that they couldn’t while they served as Attorney-General and Police Chief, respectively, up to as recently as last year?”
