Navi-Comm Avionics Limited has become the latest party to question Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs' legal ability to enter into the controversial aircraft lease deal. The company, in a pre-action protocol letter sent to T&T Police Service on March 2, claimed it was the first party to propose the use of a light aircraft as a crime-fighting tool to national security officials.
In the letter sent by the company's lawyer, Jacqueline Chang, the firm called on the Police Service to provide reasons for refusing to enter into the agreement with it. The letter stemmed from instructions from the company's managing director, Eddie Dallsingh, to his lawyers to institute legal action against Gibbs.
The three-month lease contract for the Zenith CH 750 Air Scout Surveillance Aircraft was agreed upon late last year between the Police Service and another company, T&T Air Support Company Limited, at a cost of US$140,400 (TT$902,772). The contract was first brought into the public domain on January 27 by Opposition MP Donna Cox during a Parliament debate.
During her contribution in the recently-concluded no- confidence motion against her in Parliament, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced that a report on the contract was produced for the Government by solicitor general Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell. The report, Persad-Bissessar said, stated that Gibbs acted "without authority in the procurement."
In its pre-action protocol letter, Navi-Comm Avionics Limited similarly submitted: "The powers of the Police Commissioner are clearly defined in Section 123a of the Constitution, the Police Services Act and Police Service Regulations, which, when studied, do not stipulate that the commissioner is a body corporate or company which is capable of entering into contracts."
The letter further requests that the TTPS review the existing contract and make a decision "that it is deemed null and void on the basis that it is not a valid agreement." Within the past weeks, the issue also has sparked the attention of the Police Complaints Authority and the Police Services Commission who are both said to be monitoring and investigating the situation.
Through the letter, the company, which is based at the National Mail Centre, Piarco, claimed it was the sole and primary company that was negotiating with National Security officials since 2003. "In the circumstances outlined, my client has been, and still is, being deprived the financial benefit of the substantive agreement, which was to advantage all parties of the negotiating team," the letter added.
The company also claimed to be directly aggrieved as a result of Gibbs entering into the contract with T&T Air Support Company Limited. The company, thorough their lawyers, noted if Gibbs and the Police Service did not respond to the letter within 14 days judicial review proceedings would be commenced in the High Court.