00:00It's day one of the one-man hunger strike started by Denz Garrett, a now-retired police
00:05corporal who proceeded on pro-retirement in 2016 before his tenure ended in 2018.
00:11Garrett, like many other police officers, is eagerly awaiting his back pay, which they
00:16were expecting to get before Christmas 2023 or in January 2024, as announced by Finance
00:23Minister Colman Byrd, for which the funds were subsequently allocated.
00:28For what is now close to a year without the money in hand, Garrett felt compelled to vent
00:33his frustration in front of the police administration building in Port of Spain.
00:56Yet for this retiree, the back pay is a chance at rebuilding his life.
01:26Garrett tells us he has been given yet another timeline for Friday, November 8, and he's
01:38waiting on a call from police admin staff.
01:42That call, he says, will determine if he returns before the week is out to continue protesting,
01:47which he plans on undertaking until he gets his money.
01:50To get an idea of the overall situation, TV6 News contacted President of the TNT Police
01:56Service Social and Welfare Association, Gideon Dixon, who calls it a precarious position
02:01facing the retirees.
02:21He adds that over 800 serving officers are in the situation as well, representing approximately
02:272,400 present and former officers who are being owed.
02:32According to Dixon, when the funds were disbursed by the government, the administration of the
02:37TTPS took a decision to settle the accounts of the serving members first.
02:42But as it stands now, the association is fed up.
02:50We have, as an association, decided to put this in the hands of our TNTs so that we could
02:56try to bring about some form of redress.
03:01Going forward, our TNTs will be reaching out with a correctional protocol letter to have
03:07this matter addressed.
03:08Dixon claims that several promises have been made by the administration to resolve the
03:13issue, but so far, there are lots of excuses as to why it is not being done.
03:19So it started where we had movement of manpower, the experienced persons, and they would have
03:28moved on.
03:29We brought back in those persons, some persons from the service concerned.
03:33We even collaborated with our allies in law enforcement to bring them into assist.
03:37They said that they had issues with sick leave for officers, and the new personnel there
03:45weren't fully trained to do the back pay.
03:47These numerous excuses have been put on the table.
03:50The TTPS SWA believes it only serves to deplete the moral among the officers.
03:56Dixon tells us that a pre-action protocol is expected to be delivered this week,
04:01following which, he says, the natural judicial course will follow.
04:05However, he expresses hope and optimism that the issue will be resolved
04:10before the matter reaches the court.
04:12Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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