NATIONAL Security Joint Select Committee (JSC) chairman, Port of Spain South MP Keith Scotland has said the committee will hold an inquiry into matters related to the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) when the new parliamentary session begins in September.
Contacted on July 12, Scotland said a decision had been taken that the committee should conduct this inquiry when Parliament resumes in two months.
He gave no other information.
Newsday understands the date for the inquiry will be set during the new parliamentary session.
In a letter to Scotland on July 5, Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Randall Mitchell asked for the JSC to hold an urgent inquiry on the SSA and related matters.
Mitchell is a member of the JSC.
His letter to Scotland came after the Prime Minister made a statement in the House of Representatives on July 3 about the audit into the SSA that began in March
Referring to Dr Rowley's statement, Mitchell said, "The issues raised are of great concern and are of national importance as it related to the citizenry of TT."
He believed an inquiry by the committee into the SSA and related matters "will go a long way into unearthing what actually transpired and thereby assist in quelling any lingering public concerns and disquiet."
Mitchell suggested key people should be summoned to a meeting to answer questions from committee members on this urgent matter.
He also suggested the meeting be included as an agenda item for the JSC's meeting on July 8.
That meeting saw the JSC question Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher about the police's violent-crime reduction initiative.
Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, another member of the JSC, asked Harewood-Christopher to comment on police investigation into matters pertaining to the SSA.
Harewood-Christopher replied, "In as much as it is a very burning issue, it is an issue that is at a very delicate stage, and it will not be prudent for me to comment at this time."
Earlier on the same day, in a WhatsApp response to Newsday, Rowley said his statement in the House did not compromise any investigation into the SSA.
"My statement in the Parliament was a carefully crafted body of information with just enough details to advise the public on the nature and extent of an issue without unnecessarily identifying persons or other entities for whom an interest exists. "The fact that there are interests to be recognised in no way prevents the Government from from giving the Parliament information about the administration or the country in general. Have you not seen persons calling for more information or even surmising that there are more questions for which answers are to be had? The Parliament, now being informed, would do as it sees fit to get all the clarification and answers required."
He said this did not compromise any investigation, and in fact he had said "very clearly that many lines of criminal investigations and various audits are under way." These must be allowed to proceed to conclusion, he said.
In his state
