DPP Office not bugged

NATIONAL Security Minister Emmanuel George yesterday said information sent to him from the police is that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was never bugged as was claimed in a newspaper report and by the Opposition.

George made this disclosure to Newsday following the adjournment of the Senate. During the sitting, Opposition Senator Faris Al-Rawi charged that nobody in Government was “getting hot and sweaty” to investigate a newspaper report that the DPP’s Office was bugged.

Al-Rawi alleged that a contractor, Super Industrial Services (SIS), was providing private security services to the DPP’s Office.

Checks on SIS’ website show the services it provides are civil engineering; mechanical engineering; plant construction and maintenance and the supply of concrete blocks and aggregates.

Speaking after the Senate’s adjournment, George said he did not know what Al-Rawi was talking about, regarding the SIS. “He has information I don’t have,” George said. Asked whether there was any investigation into alleged bugging of DPP Roger Gaspard’s office, George replied, “All I can say is I have gotten a report from the Acting Commissioner of Police that there is no bug found in the DPP’s Office.”

George said the report he received from Acting Commissioner Stephen Williams indicated that in January, “the police made a sweep of that office and nothing like that (an electronic listening/monitoring device) was found.”

Describing Al-Rawi’s claim as “typical of the PNM”, George said, “What they do is throw a lie out there and truth has to go running after it to see if he (truth) can catch him (lie).” George also said his ministry would be prepared to provide additional funding to the police if they need it to hire a cyber-crime expert to investigate the authenticity of a package of “emails” which Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley mentioned in his no-confidence motion against Persad-Bissessar and the Government last week. During the sitting, Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie and Al-Rawi crossed swords over Rowley’s email claims.

Tewarie said while Rowley was in his right to bring a no-confidence motion he (Tewarie) knocked Rowley for raising the email issue when its authenticity is suspect.

In response, Al-Rawi said he found it curious that certain Government senators did not understand that “there is privilege in the House.” Explaining this was inherent in Section 55 of the Constitution and Standing Order 26 (5), Al-Rawi said senators have the ability, “to raise a motion of privilege at any moment in time and without notice.”

Newsday