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Govt. slapped with $3M bill for witness protection programme

Oct 01, 2010 News

The witness protection programme related to the CN Sharma sexual assault case has already cost the government a whopping $3M.
Kaieteur News understands that the bill was presented to the Ministry of Human Services by the owners of the holding facility, shortly before the collapse of the programme.
But the figure could be higher since the holding facility is still open to the witnesses, who have now been given the freedom to leave.
Police sources have indicated that the force still maintains a presence at the facility despite the prolonged absence of the witnesses on a daily basis.
“They leave for almost the entire day and would return around meal time, so until we get other instructions, we still have to be there,” a police source said.
Human Services Minister Priya Manickchand disclosed that the government is bound to honour the bill, which has already been sent to the Ministry of Finance for processing.
There was some bickering between the police and the Ministry of Human Services, regarding who is responsible for the witnesses.
Initially, the witnesses were housed at the Sophia Drop-in Centre but they soon left the confinement of that facility. Subsequently it was learnt that they were being compromised and the police reportedly offered them some immunity from tampering.
This led to what was described as hostage-like conditions by the witnesses who then made several attempts to free themselves.
This was despite the authorities insisting that the programme was voluntary.
The programme went into a tailspin when one of the witnesses left the facility for good, citing among other things inhumane treatment by the police. Following this revelation, the police relented on the perceived prison-like approach and ordered that the witnesses were free to leave if they so desire.
One of the main contentions was the length of time that the witnesses have been confined without being taken before the courts to give their testimony.
According to Minister Manickchand, the delay is no fault of the administration, since those responsible for the judicial process are independent of the government.
It is not too clear how soon the witnesses will be taken to court to give their testimonies, especially since CN Sharma is presently overseas for medical treatment.

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