(Trinidad Express) Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs is now being threatened with legal action should he fail to rescind, within 14 days, the contract he gave to Trinidad and Tobago Air Support Services (TTAS) for the provision of light aircraft services.
Attorney Jacqueline Chang, acting on behalf of Navi-Comm Avionics Ltd (NAL), has sent a pre-action protocol letter to Gibbs, demanding that he declare the contract he issued on December 29, 2011, to TTAS null and void and of no effect with cost.
The letter, dated March 2, outlined that it was NAL that first made a proposal to Gibbs on the use of the light sport aircraft.
The letter also provided a timeline dating back to 2002 and an exchange of letters between NAL and Government and TTPS officials with respect to the proposal.
Eddie Dallsingh, managing director of NAL, claims he first approached Gibbs with the proposal but the contract was awarded to TTAS.
Managing director of the TTAS Dirk Barnes and director Daniel Condon were working with Dallsingh to secure the contract before forming TTAS last year.
In the legal letter, Chang stated that Gibbs and the Police Service are not in law “a separate legal entity which possesses the capacity to enter into written contracts whatsoever or at all in the subject manner. Moreover, the powers of the Commissioner are clearly defined in Section 123A of the Constitution, the Police Service Act and Police Service Regulations, which when studied, does not stipulate that the Commissioner of Police is a body corporate and/or a company that is capable of entering into contracts. In view of the latter, it is submitted that the subject contract is deemed null and void since it lacks the very basic requirement of a valid contract, namely that there is no proper party to the agreement”.
The letter to Gibbs also details Condon’s involvement with NAL in its bid to secure the contract.
“In October 2010, Daniel Condon became part of NAL’s negotiating team who would responsible for securing a contract for the proposed service (the negotiating team). Thereafter, Daniel Condon, at all material times, formed part of the team representing NAL in its pursuit to attain a contract with the Ministry,” stated the letter.
The letter added that in March 2011, Barnes also became part of the negotiating team at Condon’s request. “In May 2011, Daniel Condon made a presentation to the Deputy Commissioner of Police Jack Ewatski on behalf of NAL,” stated the letter.
“In June 2011, Daniel Condon again met with Mr Ewatski on behalf of NAL to discuss the prospect of a contract for service to be provided by NAL,” the letter added.
“On 3rd July 2011, Daniel Condon flew with Dirk Barnes and Mr Ewatski on a commercial plane registration N738WM sourced by NAL. The purpose of this flight was to demonstrate to Mr Ewatski the capability of microlight aircraft. Following the demonstration, Daniel Condon became heavily involved in negotiating directly with Mr Ewatski for the approval of the use of NAL’s service,” stated the legal letter.
Chang stated that her client’s interest in the matter stems from the “obvious fact” that NAL has been the sole and primary company negotiating with the Ministry in relation to securing a contract for the provision of the subject service.
“…My client has been, and still is, being deprived the financial benefit of the substantive agreement, which, we say, was to advantage all parties of the negotiating team,” stated Chang.
The intended legal action against Gibbs comes on the heels of Solicitor General Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell’s findings that Gibbs acted “without authority” with the award of the contract to TTAS.
