The National Transformation Alliance hosted its first official public meeting at the Diego Martin Central Community Centre on Wednesday night.
An invitation from the party stated that members of the public were welcome to speak about what matters the most to them and meet its Political Leader, former Top CoP Gary Griffith.
Addressing a full house, Griffith accused the government of spending “more time and concern about law-abiding citizens getting legal firearms to defend themselves over criminal elements who have illegal firearms.”
He said, “100% of all murders committed by guns, have been by illegal firearms in the last 3 years. Not one (legal firearm) was lost or stolen or used to commit a crime. I distributed to 0.3% of the nation and 50 % were given to the nation’s retired police officers, soldiers, sailors and prison officers.”
He said this was done because of a “bad system that when you come off duty you don’t have a firearm to protect yourself or your family.”
Griffith further claimed that it was brought to his attention that an unnamed unit has been formed within the police service in a bid to “bring him down.”
“It is an un-named unit and their job every day is to see what they can do to bring down Gary Griffith, that is what we have reached to.”
As he urged “law-abiding police officers to avoid walking into that trap,” Griffith said he has since written to the Police Complaints Authority, the DPP, the Police Service Commission and the PSP to have the matter investigated.
“This is the kind of dictatorship that we intend to put an end to, where you cannot have the police service working to the directives of politicians because you give them promises of a substantive post if you get Gary Griffith arrested.”
On Wednesday, the office of the Attorney General wrote to Griffith’s attorney Larry Lalla, saying that his client and all those affected by the finding of the Firearms Users Licence (FUL) audit report will be given the chance to respond before the Prime Minister lays it, or a summary of it, in Parliament.
The AG's letter, signed by director (Legal) Tenille Ramkissoon, was delivered to Lalla on Tuesday in response to Lalla and another of Griffith's attorneys Avery Sinanan SC who, last week, threatened legal action if the report was laid in Parliament, as promised by Dr Rowley at a public meeting on August 23.
Responding to the latest development, in terms of the contents of the AG's latest letter, Griffith further questioned the Prime Minister’s direct interest in the investigation.
He said, "Rowley has taken a personal interest in this investigation, so much so that it has clouded his vision and he has lost all perspective of propriety. Why has he taken such a personal interest? Is it because his real aim is to seek to destroy a political opponent as opposed to seeing that justice is done?”
Last September, Retired Justice Stanley John was commissioned by former PSC chairman Bliss Seepersad to investigate an alleged corruption racket in the sale of FULs said to involve certain senior police officers, gun dealers and firearms instructors.
The issuing of 5,000 FULs over a three-year period-exceeding the usual 200 per year, also led the National Security Council (NCS), chaired by the Prime Minister, to appoint a team to investigate.
Source: Loop TT
