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Fudging the books

Mar 08, 2012 Editorial

 

 

 

It is clear that the Guyana Police Force received a sum of money during the pre- and post-elections period late last year. The police were requested to be in-lying and so be ready to move in the event of any eventuality.
A sum of money was spent for the upkeep of the force during the elections. We know that this year the government approached the National Assembly for a supplementary provision of $90.6 million to cover the cost of feeding and transporting the police during the elections period, and to ensure the mobility of the police  during the intensification of patrols in and around the city.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, in response to a question, said that his government had released $90 million to the police for the elections. We duly reported this fact and questioned the extent of this expenditure. The authorities never responded. Weeks went by; Divisional Commanders commented on the situation to report that they never received any money.
Instead, they said that they sought assistance from the business community for food and other supplies needed during the elections period. Again we asked questions about this $90.6 million, only to be met with a wall of silence. We tried to get answers at the Annual Police Officers’ Conference and got none.
After two weeks, the Minister of Home Affairs informed us that we would get an answer.
That answer came on Tuesday, but the situation remains murky. The police detailed sums released to the various Divisions, but the Divisional Commanders claim that they never received the money.
The most outspoken, Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine, said inter alia, “I am putting my career on the line when I reiterate that from the contribution of miners and businessmen, I spent over $1.5 million to police the elections in my division.”
Another Divisional Commander said, “It was he (Henry Greene) who instructed me to advise my subordinate officers in far off locations to take certain commodities on credit…” He had earlier said that he had sought a budget of in excess of $5 million; all he received from the Police Finance Department was a cheque for just over $300,000.
But the Guyana Police Force in an official statement reiterated that “monies received were allocated to the appropriate Divisions and Branches for feeding ranks and other policing activities during the elections.”
The police add further confusion when they state that for the elections all they received was $51 million “and not the total $90,649,200”. But the government is seeking $90 million in supplementary provisions being money spent on the police during the elections. Somebody is lying. Somebody has fudged the books and there is now an attempt to cover up.
This reaction to the disclosure of the missing $90 million tells us that we have not been wrong to conclude that money has disappeared from the police coffers. The Ministry of Finance is certain that it paid the money to the police; the Home Affairs Minister is not too keen to have the case of the missing money ventilated.
We say that there must be a probe; we need answers. What the police stated is at odds with the truth. We want the truth.

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