Dear Editor,
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee must be commended for maintaining his calm and composure in the face of relentless and sustained attacks by opposition elements with obvious political agendas. These attacks are politically motivated aimed at casting blame on Minister Rohee and by extension the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C) administration over the crime situation in the country.
Having failed in their attempts to have him removed from office by way of a parliamentary motion, the opposition has resorted to all manner of subterfuge to discredit the performance of Rohee in the discharge of his ministerial duties.
It would be recalled that an attempt was made to link the minister to the Linden fiasco which resulted in the unfortunate deaths of two persons following protest actions by opposition parties but a commission of inquiry set up on the insistence of the opposition found no evidence of ministerial involvement in the operational work of the police force.
The attacks on Minister Rohee are unreasonable, unfounded and without merit.
These attacks have nothing to do with the competence of the minister in the execution of his ministerial portfolio as is being claimed by the political opposition.
Indeed, the minister is doing an excellent job having regard to the new and changing dynamics of crime and criminal activities which are posing problems to governments all over the world. It is unfair to blame the minister for operational deficiencies outside of his ministerial remit.
The fact of the matter is that there is no silver bullet that can solve the problem of crime in the country.
It requires the support and collaboration of each and every Guyanese, more so the parliamentary opposition in order to create an environment which would make it difficult for criminals to operate.
The failure of the opposition parties to support legislation to curb the illegal flow of weapons and money laundering activities is clearly not in the best national interest especially from a security perspective.
Yours sincerely,
Hydar Ally