The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has seen mounting increases in its spending for contract employees over the last three years, rising from $54.1 million in 2018, to $88.8 million in 2021.

This is according to figures released by Finance Minister Colm Imbert.

Imbert also corrected a misquote in one of the daily newspapers, which claimed expenditure on contract employment in the TTPS has been $1.6million in 2016. 

The Finance Minister said the correct figure was $61.6 million, and noted there had actually been a downward trend in expenditure in this regard in the years leading up to 2018.

From 2018-2021, however, he noted that contract expenditure had increased by $34.7 million.

The release of the figures comes just one day after a list of contract employees hired under former Police Commissioner Gary Griffith were terminated with immediate effect, in what was said to be part of an exercise to cut expenditure.

On Monday, responding to the development, Griffith alleged that political interference was at play. 

“It is inconceivable to think that the TTPS hierarchy would terminate every single contract of persons that I appointed, without a directive, especially given the fact that these individuals were at the heart of the remarkable numbers, and public sentiment turn around, that the TTPS has enjoyed in the past couple of years, under my watch,” Griffith said.