Re-engagement of UK, other agencies in security initiative “showing promise”

Aug 13, 2015 News

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As the new government seeks to implement measures to combat spiraling crime, Minister of State Joseph Harmon has revealed that the Government is re-engaging the United Kingdom and other agencies for help, a course that is showing promise.
In addition, Harmon announced that key Government officials have been formulating security policies, through weekly meetings of the much vaunted National Security Committee. This was conveyed during yesterday’s press briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency.
“Government has put together a National Security Committee, comprising the Chief of Staff, Commissioner of Police, Minister of Legal Affairs, the Prime Minister, Minister of Public Security and State and Head of the National Intelligence Committee.” Harmon stated.
According to Harmon, the committee is mandated to meet on a weekly basis, where the crime statistics and the methodology employed by the police to fight crime are reviewed.
“And then we assist in the allocations of resources to the police to deal with these matters,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Harmon stated that international help is being provided to the Guyana Police Force. This help, according to Harmon, is forthcoming from foreign law enforcement agencies and includes training, improving the capabilities of local police to handle crime scene investigations.”
The Minister also revealed that help from the United Kingdom had been sought, in addressing the crime situation. Harmon also lashed out at the previous PPP/C administration, when the British training programme had been scrapped owing to their reservations.
“We have re-engaged the British and other agencies and we have had good responses from those countries so far,” the Minister said.
Harmon also revealed that the draft security plan will be released within a few weeks and is currently with the Minister of Public Security.
“He is reviewing it and in due course, we will make that plan known to the public,” Harmon stated.
The Minister also revealed that elements of the plan have already been put in place, since the unpredictable nature of crime meant that Government could not wait until the master plan is fully unveiled.
The APNU+AFC Administration has already laid out an elaborate plan in a bid to halt the spate of current criminal activity. The plan includes increased resources for the police force, to enhance its ground, air and river response capabilities.
Apart from the proposed plans to deal with the situation, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan has implemented new measures, including the 2:00am curfew for nightspots and bars, as well as deploying vehicles that were earmarked for Community Policing Groups to the police force to bolster their fleet of patrol vehicles.
Police re-organization and training is also part of the new strategy.
After an earlier emergency security meeting, it had been indicated that the government was given a clear undertaken to the Guyana Police Force that it will provide the assets to go after criminal activity wherever it exists.
According to Harmon, it means that the police ability to be able to go up in the air, using aircraft and helicopters to actually overlook difficult terrain, will be enhanced.  In addition, the police’s increased capabilities will not only be confined to the land but will include sea as well, where piracy has been increasingly rampant.
The resuscitation of the Police Marine Wing to give them greater flexibility and greater access to inland waterways is an important feature of the new government’s strategy.
One of the most innovative measures to deal with the rising crime, announced by the Government, has been the use of animals.
“Crime is such a fluid thing that you cannot wait until the master plan is put out before you start responding to things that are happening on the street,” Harmon emphasized yesterday.
Harmon also alluded to a greater level of co-ordination between law enforcement agencies, including the sharing of information consisting of intelligence and crime statistics.
“We believe that with this and the other measures likely to be put in place when the plan is unveiled, we’ll be able to get to the root of this crime situation.”
A sum of $21B was allocated for the security sector in last Monday’s budget presentation. Out of that $11.9B will support the operations of the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, Guyana Fire Service, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), while $9.1B has been budgeted for the Guyana Defence Force.
These allocations, according to Finance Minister Winston Jordan, will be used to improve the physical infrastructure, upgrade the security fleet, acquire tools and equipment, and upgrade the security features of the machine-readable passports.

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