Former Attorney General Dale Marshall has rapped the sudden and confusing manner in which Police Commissioner Darwin Dottin has been sent on leave, and is calling on Government to address the matter urgently.
In a statement on behalf of the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) at the Opposition’s office today, Marshall said right-thinking Barbadians were alarmed at Dottin being sent on administrative leave with immediate effect by the Police Service Commission (PSC).
Stating that this leave was pending the Governor General’s determination that Dottin be retired under the Pensions Act after having reached age 55, Marshall said it was strange that the statutory basis for his proposed separation was merely related to age under the Pensions Act and not to dereliction of duty or any failings in his performance under the Police Act.
The Commissioner turned 55 nearly eight years ago, Marshall added.
Asking how such a separation on the basis of age could be “in the public interest,” the former AG said such reasoning was an insult to all Barbadians.
“Is this some kind of poorly camouflaged disciplinary proceeding against the Commissioner of Police, especially since on the last occasion . . . the charges clearly did not even get off the ground?,” he asked.
Marshall also noted that the development had come on the heels of congratulatory remarks from several members of Cabinet, who highlighted last Tuesday in Parliament the wonderful job done by the Police Force in recent months.
The public was therefore justified in being confounded at this sudden turn of events, he said.
Full story in tomorrow’s MIDWEEK NATION
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