BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COMMISSIONER OF POLICE Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn said the statement made by Lindsay Grant claiming that he does not give the People’s Action Movement (PAM) the same courtesy as the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party is unfounded.
The Commissioner was responding to an article published by this media house in which Grant said, “Just like Labour could block off the road, why can't they block off the road for the People's Action Movement. Every time they got meeting, they want to block off the road 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon, but when we write to them, as we did, for permission to block off this road here, we can't hear back from them.”
Grant was referring to the political meeting that PAM held in Old Road on Thursday (May 2) when the Main Road was not blocked from traffic to allow the smooth flow of the event.
He said they tried to inquire the reason for not receiving a response to their request, but was unsuccessful and were not pleased with what they were told.
“...when we called the office this afternoon to ask them what happen to the response about blocking off the road, they said the Commissioner of Police ain’t there and the Deputy don’t want to touch that. Well, why should they don’t want to touch that when like it’s something we’re begging? Labour get it so PAM could get it too!”
In his response to the issue, Commissioner Walwyn told this media house that at the time of the incident he was out of the Federation and had only learnt of it on his return.
“That is kind of weird! First of all, I learned of that statement by reading your online paper when I got here. One of my Inspectors told me that I was on the front page again. And on checking for myself I saw there was the story and I had to call my Deputy to ask him what it was about, because I saw within the story a statement that they spoke to the Deputy and the comments he allegedly made.
“I spoke with the Deputy and he told me that the paperwork with the request to block the street came in a day and a half before the actual date that they wanted to have the meeting. We have a minimum of three days notice, because we have to get manpower to accommodate the requests of different organisations.”
Commissioner Walwyn explained that yesterday (May 6) he had read the letter for the first time and observed that it was sent by fax machine from V. Vieira and Associates and stamped 10:48 on April 30, 2013.
“The letter says that they would like to have the road blocked on Thursday, May 2, 2013. This would not have been enough time to set this up. So the statement that I don’t give PAM the same courtesy as Labour is unfounded.”
He noted that when the same political party had a meeting on Thursday (April 25), the police had blocked off the corner of Thibou Avenue and Cayon Street.
“We never had a problem blocking the street off because we had ample notice. We had plenty of notice…it was faxed again on April 24. We had enough time to block off the street and grant what they requested. So the notion that granting favours to one over another is unfounded.”
The Top Cop said it seems as if everybody wants to get him involved in politics, but he is in the Federation to perform law enforcement duties.
“I know that politicians have to beef up their base. I understand all of that, but it seems like everybody would like to get me involved in the politics of this country. I said from day one that I don’t get involved in politics. I know my job is law enforcement and I perform law enforcement duties.”
Grant also sent a message to the Commissioner saying, “But next time, Mr. Commissioner of Police, if you don’t block off the road when we ask for permission to block off the road right here, we going block it off weself.”
To that message, Commissioner Walwyn said, “I have a lot of respect for Mr. Grant, but I believe that he was trying to boost his base when he made the statement. I am going to assume that…I don’t know for a fact. But I would tell Mr. Grant, or anybody else, that if you block the streets without permission I will enforce the law to the fullest extent, and you can take that however you want to take it.”
At the meeting in Old Road, the former Leader of the People’s Action Movement also said, “The message for the Commissioner of Police tonight is that you must be fair because the tax payers money, Labour taxpayers money, PAM taxpayers money paying your salary when the month comes.”
In response, the Commissioner emphatically stated that he is here to serve the country of his birth; that he would not accept abuse from anyone and he has no intention of leaving until his contract expires.
“Reference to my salary and everything else, I am here serving my country because I want to. I don’t have to! I have a home and I know where I live. So anytime the Federation decides that they don’t want me, it’s fair. I will be happy to walk away. But I am not going to be abused by anybody…I don’t care who it is and you can make all the statements you want. Until my contract is up, I have no intentions of leaving.”
