There is no urgent national security threat - Police Officers

There is no urgent national security threat – Police Officers

Jun 25, 2013 News

– accuses Home Affairs Minister of creating fear

By Dale Andrews
Some Assistant Commissioners of the Guyana Police Force are convinced that Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, is creating fear in the society to justify his decision to arbitrarily curtail their annual vacation leave.
The officers are adamant that from the standpoint of the main law enforcement and intelligence agency in Guyana, there is no evidence of a security threat that would necessitate them giving up half their leave for a third straight year.

Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee

The Minister, responding to concerns expressed by the officers over what they described as him taking civilian oversight of the Guyana Police Force too far, had stated that fear over the country’s peace and good order is what has caused him to manage how senior police officers go on leave.
“It is to be noted that the current political and public order climate needs to be monitored closely as threats to the maintenance of peace and good order in Guyana continue to be made by the political opposition.
“This is demonstrated by their support for the call made by Mr. Mark Benschop to ‘begin finding ways to shut the country down, either by blocking all roads, highways, bridges, airports’, in his protest against the proposed increase in electricity rates,” Rohee said in a statement last week.
However this explanation only served to infuriate the officers who now believe that the Minister had no intention of returning their situation to normal, following the 2011 general elections.
Rohee agreed that senior officers of the Guyana Police Force are indeed eligible for 42 days Annual Vacation Leave.
“There must be a high level of proficiency and response capability within the Force in case of any eventuality, since given the experiences at Linden and Agricola, the political opposition cannot be deemed trustworthy in so far as the maintenance of peace and good order in Guyana is concerned,” Rohee charged.
The group of concerned Assistant Commissioners stated that all other ranks are being granted their full leave, including those who have accumulated leave.
All of this is despite the Minister saying that there is a threat of instability.
Some senior officers who spoke to this newspaper yesterday, refusing to be identified out of fear of victimization said that the explanation proffered by the Minister “cannot hold water”.
“Many people are saying that we are hiding behind anonymity, but all of us know what the minister is capable of doing. He has done it before,” the Assistant Commissioner added.
They explained that there are adequate provisions and guidelines to allow for the smooth running of the Guyana Police Force at all times, even when a crisis occurs and senior officers are on leave.
Kaieteur News was told that all officers are reminded in their leave letter that should the need arise, they can be recalled from their vacation whether it is being spent overseas or locally.
“So there is no need for the Minister to say that, use the excuse of pending threats to justify curtailing our leave. We have had critical situations in the past and we never had a deferral of part of our leave for three years,” one officer explained.
There is no mention of the officers being paid in lieu of the deferred leave and according to one Assistant Commissioner this poses a problem when the time comes for them to retire from the Force.
In many cases officers had racked up hundreds of days in leave and end up remaining on the Force strength even after they have retired.
Another area of concern for the officers is the Minister’s insinuation that Assistant Commissioners are the only ranks capable of carrying out command and other senior duties.
The Minister had declared in his statement that consideration must be given to maintaining adequate levels of command in the Guyana Police Force at all times.
“Is he saying that if an Assistant Commissioner is on his full leave, a Senior Superintendent cannot function as a Commander?” one officer asked.
Another officer explained that what is happening now is counter-productive to the succession planning of the Guyana Police Force, since the Commanders’ deputies are not being given the opportunity to function in the command position for extended periods, so that a proper assessment of their capabilities can be made.
“This same Deputy will someday be promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner but we are not preparing him for the position. This is a situation that has been created in the force for quite some time now and that is why there is so much inefficiency in the organization,” a former senior police officer opined.