Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar says Gov­ern­ment is spend­ing far too much on con­tract­ed pri­vate se­cu­ri­ty ser­vices—near­ly half a bil­lion dol­lars—and has launched a re­view of the ex­ist­ing agree­ments in a bid to rein in costs.

Speak­ing at yes­ter­day’s post-Cab­i­net me­dia brief­ing, Per­sad-Bisses­sar dis­closed that min­istries and State agen­cies col­lec­tive­ly spend around $500 mil­lion a year on pri­vate se­cu­ri­ty con­tracts. She made it clear this fig­ure ex­cludes pay­ments to the po­lice, De­fence Force, and oth­er pro­tec­tive ser­vices.

“The Gov­ern­ment is spend­ing five, 500 mil­lion, an­oth­er half a bil­lion dol­lars there, on con­tract­ed se­cu­ri­ty ser­vices,” she said. “I am not here speak­ing of TTPS. I’m not speak­ing of about the army or any of the pro­tec­tive ser­vices. This is con­tract­ed se­cu­ri­ty ser­vices.”