More than a year after a new crime fighting strategy was introduced by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Administration, there is yet to be seen any amount of changes and/or reduction in the incidences of crime in Guyana.
According to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Clement Rohee, the crime plan implemented by President David Granger over a year ago was nothing more than a deception.
Weeks into office last year, President Granger had summoned his top security officials, including Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan and Brigadier Mark Phillips, Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and had laid out a five-point action plan that the security sector would use to battle the crime wave, which at that time, had been rising at an alarming rate. The plan, however, was more of a strategic nature than immediate actions to address the crime wave.
Together, the group had suggested the beefing up of security at borders across the country. Coupled with that move was the resuscitation of the Police’s marine wing to provide Police officers with flexibility and greater access to inland waterways along with the use of animals, including horses and dogs, to go after criminals.
Focus was also to be placed on the Police administration itself and the requirement to identify criminal activities across all 10 regions of Guyana, to determine where the activities are being committed and to decide on the strategy to deal with them on a national basis.
The next element of that plan was to involve Police organisation and training and the way in which the Police Force is organised. A directive was given by the Public Security Minister that more Police officers needed to be put on the streets to carry out patrols to get out of the offices, where they were performing non-core functions.
Speaking on Monday at his party’s weekly Press Conference, Clement Rohee said the plans announced by government to tackle crime never really existed, but actually was being used to fool the public.
“First Granger called for a crime plan. Then we were told the plan is with Ramjattan, then we were told that it was with the National Security Council which is chaired by President Granger, then later we were told that it was with the Commissioner of Police, then we were later told that there was no plan,” Rohee told the media.
He said while that plan has seemingly failed, Government is again now announcing that there will soon be a security sector action plan.
According to him, there are more questions than answers about this new plan, including its financing, whether it would be coming from the Government coffers; the length of time for the plan and key components, and whether or not the plan will be made public.
