Authorities in Trinidad have asked Guyana and Jamaica to send senior military officers to help them probe the recent disappearance of nearly 26,000 rounds of high powered ammunition, an announcement stated Friday.
It followed a cabinet meeting this week, noting that retiring Prime Minister Keith Rowley had asked for and won approval from President Irfaan Ali of Guyana and Andrew Holness of Jamaica to send the officers to sit on a board of inquiry into the disappearance of the rounds from a military base just outside the city. All three leaders are attending this week’s CARICOM summit in Barbados. It is scheduled to end on Friday.
The Express newspaper head weeks ago exclusively reported the disappearance of the relatively large cache of ammunition, saying that authorities had feared that some of these would and could have ended up in the hands of criminal elements. Officials have since confirmed the reporting with the announcement about the establishment of a commission of inquiry.
The probe is to begin shortly.
“This serious allegation was the topic of concern for the government, and in particular, the members of cabinet who share the concerns of the population,” the security ministry said in a statement. “To that end, and following (Thursday’s) discussions, cabinet has decided to establish a team to conduct a thorough audit of the records, armory and storage facilities at the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment’s Cumuto Barracks and any related matter.”
The probe is coming in the midst of a statement emergency measures put in place at the start of the year aimed curbing the number of murders and violent crime. Official figures for murders last year had placed the tally at 625, compared to 577 in 2023.
Local police say they are also investigating how and why the ammunition was transferred from one place to the next without apparent approval. The discovery was made after a new commanding officer took charge of the base and ordered an inventory probe into facilities and possessions.
