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The emasculation of the GDF

May 25, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
The GDF glory days were over when the PPP took office. They literally took away all the tools and equipment for the GDF to function as a Defence Force. Now don’t blame the PPP for the initial move because they saw the GDF as an enemy and friend of the PNC. After all, most of the votes from the GDF goes to the PNC now APNU and now the Coalition.
However, many years later after, the GDF proved themselves as a professional Defence Force and capable to securing the governance of the PPP. The reasons for depriving the GDF of assets changed. It became an inevitable corruption game. Senior officials in the PPP government and OP saw it as a money maker to lease trucks to the GDF, allow contracts for humanitarian and basic services done over the years by the GDF Air Corps to go to their two very good friends. All this coming with the permission and out of the corridors of the Office of the President.
I hope the new government rebuilds the GDF to be a proud group of men and women with the equipment to tackle border defence if needed, handle humanitarian missions, fight the narcotics trade, secure our borders and return our badly needed search and rescue capabilities.
It is a shame that after all the GDF did for the PPP led government for the past 22 years, the legacy they left for the GDF is one with no or little assets and equipment other than free items donated by the Chinese and U.S. governments. It is shameful and a disgrace for the professional GDF and our nation.
The nearby Caricom members, the Surinamese and Trinidad Defence Forces are all better equipped on land, sea and in the air than our GDF. A sad story of how corruption and focus by the previous PPP government didn’t see anything worthwhile unless it meant a dime for them and a kickback with direct cash benefits for the senior PPP decision makers.
Hopefully, the current government will stop the government corruption affecting the GDF and re-invest in the GDF without fear or favour. This means allowing the GDF to commence performing the tasks they were proud of performing before the corrupting PPP forces took over in 1992.
I often wondered whether the deliberate depriving of the GDF from assets was meant to prevent the GDF from being called upon to fight the narco trade which led directly to the corridors of power and other officials as we saw from wikileaks.  Thank you for wikileaks it was all revealed. I think I am right why the GDF was deprived.
Good riddance to corruption. The worse we have seen in the former British Caribbean Territories and known only to Latin America.
Harold Singh

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