BRITISH High Commissioner to Guyana, Gregory Quinn, said that an assessment of its relationship with the Special Organised Crime Unit, SOCU is being done following which a decision would be made with respect to that country’s future engagement with the agency.
The disclosure was made by the high commissioner during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle at his official residence in Bel Air Georgetown on Monday. “In terms of ongoing UK support, we are in part of sort of an assessment of what happens next year. We are now looking at what we may do with SOCU going forward,” Quinn told the Guyana Chronicle.

SOCU, an arm of the Guyana Police Force which investigates financial and other organised crimes, has been under fire in recent months ranging from poor management to alleged violations of best practices. Asked when the UK would be in a position to advise government on its decision going forward with SOCU, High Commissioner Quinn said that he cannot provide that information at this point.

On the issue of a replacement for Dr Sam Sittlington, who was fired by the UK recently for opening a fraud company here, Quinn said: “well it is one of the things that is currently being assessed and being discussed but I cannot give you a timeline at the moment because those discussions are going on back in the UK about what happens now going forward,” the high commissioner made clear.

Earlier this year, SOCU’s special investigator tendered her resignation after she refused to provide the court with her credentials to substantiate her claims of academic achievement. When she was then called upon by a senior government minister, she again could not provide the certificates which she had earlier claimed that she has and she was given the option of being fired or to take the high road and resign, she chose the latter. Weeks after, the Dr Sittlington was fired after it was found that he registered a local arm of his UK company and which was deemed to be a conflict of interest. He was reportedly given clearance to register the company, by head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner Sydney James.

During the interview on Monday, the high commissioner said that he was not prepared to speak too much on SOCU, since he is aware that an internal investigation is being led by the Guyana Police Force as it relates to the developments at the agency. “Well firstly, I think that I have said everything that needs to be said about Dr Sittlington and secondly, Ms. James was never employed by UK funding; that was a decision that was taken internally I think by SOCU. I think there is a belief that we funded Ms. James when we didn’t. I think there is ongoing work and we have all seen what the commissioner of police has said, so I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to go into any further details on that,” stated the high commissioner.

Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, in a recent interview with the media, noted that in accordance with the terms of the contract, the UK had indicated that they can provide a replacement for Dr Sittlington, but he was not sure how possible that could be given the timeframe. With respect to the audit at SOCU, the minister said that it was ongoing and that the investigators have already questioned James. The minister was questioned about the police investigating James and whether there could be any bias. To this, he assured that it is perfectly normal and that in addition to the police’s own internal audits ongoing at SOCU, the auditor general can come in and take control of the proceedings.

He said that for now, the police auditors are seeking to understand better, the systems which have been in place for spending at the agency. Ramjattan was asked about the presence of James and his continued running of the affairs of the agency while an audit is ongoing. “At this stage yes, there are some allegations being made that monies were not spent properly and of course you just don’t go and do anything drastic, in the meantime you listen to what the auditors of the police force would say on that score and then you proceed apace with that” the security minister noted.