National security pilots got paid $80,000, sources report

National security helicopter pilots were being paid double the standard market rate for their services, which led to the closure of the air support division of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), ministry sources told Newsday on Saturday.

Sources said the previous arrangements with pilots that was put in place in 2014 were not sustainable and claimed the salaries of some pilots were much higher than market rates, an estimated $80,000 per month well above an international average.

Newsday contacted National Security Minister Stuart Young who said while a multi-agency air unit is being established, there were alternative arrangements in place to support the efforts of the police in the crime fight.

While he did not specify what these arrangements were, he said the new unit is expected to be managed by the Air Guard "very soon."

Concerns were raised when the SSA air division was shut down on December 31, and some 30 employees were sent home.

The division was once named the National Operations Centre and was part of Police Commissioner Gary Griffith's security plan when he was the national security minister under the People's Partnership (PP) administration.

Young told a Standing Finance Committee of Parliament last year that a new air unit will be coming but didn't say when.

On October 18, Young said the unit will provide support for the operations of the police, Defence Force and intelligence agencies, and will involve the use of helicopters and drones.

He also said the four Augusta Westland helicopters were grounded as a result of poor maintenance under the PP government.

In this August 22, 2017 file photo a rescue team of the National Operations Centre air division loads equipment onto a helicopter during a search for a hiker. The air division was shut down on December 31.