Latest update February 14th, 2025 6:20 AM
Police begin destruction of obsolete guns
Destroying the obsolete weapons
The Guyana Police Force yesterday destroyed some 136 guns, among them .303 rifles and Greener Guns, which are normally used for riot control. These weapons, according to the police, are outdated, with some of them dating back to the 1950s and 1960s, and needed to be got rid of.
The guns represent a fraction of the some 1000 firearms which are to be destroyed by the police in an ongoing process.
Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, speaking on the occasion of the destruction, made special note of the “transformation in the anti-crime architecture of the country.”
This transformation, the Minister said, could be seen with the 23 pieces of anti-crime laws which have been passed, the modernization of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Guyana Police Force, and the Community Action Group under the Citizens’ Security Programme.
“Guyana has taken the necessary steps to establish a Task Force on Narcotics and Illicit Weapons,” said the Minister. By doing so, Guyana has fulfilled its part of the UN Programme of Action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects.
Describing the deaths of Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins, Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, and other members of the ‘Fine Man’ gang, as a success, the Minister said that “the storm is over, but the sea is still rough.”
And in response to questions from reporters, Minister Rohee said that between June and September last year, the police seized some 130 illegal firearms.
And Minister Rohee said that despite the decision by the government to pay the ranks of the Joint Services and the informer who combined to end the reign of both Rawlins and Charles, the public should not describe the reward as a bounty and dub the Joint Services ranks as bounty hunters.
The government offered a $50 million reward for Rawlins and a further $10 million for Charles. The informer is tipped to receive $17 million.
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