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In the face of continued territorial threats from both Venezuela and Suriname, President David Granger, the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, has outlined the “Total National Defence” Policy to officers of the Guyana Defence Force.
The President at GDF Headquarters, Base Camp Ayanganna, told officers that all the elements and instruments of national power need to be constantly employed in order to protect Guyana’s territory.
President Granger shares a light moment with Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Mark Phillips.
During the closed-door meeting, the President said that in order for Guyana to face head on, the contrived controversies that have been invented by Venezuela and Suriname, a plan for ‘total national defence’ is necessary.
The “Total National Defence” Policy stipulates that all the elements and instruments of national power be combined to protect Guyana’s territory. Once implemented, it will also give regular and reserve forces the resources they need to perform their mission over the next five years.
Significantly, the President instructed, that never again should the reserve force, fall below the required 50 percent of the regular force strength.
President Granger said that the long-term objective is to make sure that Guyanese will be able to depend on defence forces which will ensure the safety of the citizens and the security of the country. The retired Brigadier emphasised that the “age of very visible warfare, in the form of harassment on our borders or the intrusion of gunboats into our waters, is not yet over.”
The new policy, therefore, will place great focus on the re-organisation and strengthening of the GDF on five pillars; personnel, readiness, infrastructure, morale and equipment with emphasis on the Air Corps, the Coast Guard and the Engineer Corps.
“These changes must be designed to develop the capability of the Force to provide continuous surveillance over Guyana’s air, territorial and maritime borders and approaches, to provide search-and-rescue services to people in distress and to provide assistance to the civil authority in response to any threat or disaster,” the Commander-in-Chief said.
The policy will see the re-establishment of the People’s Militia as a credible reserve in all ten Regions. The National Cadet Corps will allow boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18 years in secondary schools to pursue part-time training.
Further, a Civil Defence Corps will be established to support the work of the Civil Defence Commission in responding to and managing disasters.
Addressing the subject of the security challenges that Guyana faces, the President said that all instruments of national power must be employed in a more integrated way and this would require a much higher degree of inter-agency co-operation than what obtains at present, to combine defence with diplomacy, economic development with law enforcement, and the civil authority with the defence force.
On the subject of the maintenance of public order, the President told the army officers that the GDF must operate only in support of and alongside the Police on clear and carefully defined missions. However, the GDF should never be allowed to become part of the rural landscape since public order and everyday law enforcement remains primarily the task of the police.
Speaking on the topic of civil-military relations, President Granger said that the objective of harmonious civil-military relations should be to develop a system, which provides the best military security at the least social cost.
“Harmonious civil-military relations must be the bedrock of democracy. The military force, in the final analysis, must be subordinate to the civil authority,” he said.
Additionally, the President stated that Guyana’s defence diplomacy needs to be enhanced, and noted that this can contribute to building confidence between armed forces and, in extreme cases, to preventing conflict, managing crises and resolving disputes between states.
Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier-General Mark Phillips called the new policy “timely”. He said that it will provide a framework for elected civilian officials and military officers to continuously review the roles and missions of the GDF.
“Your policy statements (yesterday), will allow for a more efficient focus of our resources, our training and our operational planning.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by Commanding Officer, Col. Patrick West who said that the new defence policy will allow the GDF to align its training and operational planning to achieve the national objectives.
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