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Police Association says Berbice Chambers of Commerce are ungrateful
The Police Association (PA) of the Guyana Police Force has lashed out at the Central Corentyne and Berbice Chambers of Commerce, calling them ungrateful and irresponsible bodies.
The police say contrary to reports, morale is high among its ranks.
The Association, which represents the largest number of ranks in the Guyana Police Force, from Chief Inspector to Constable, said that it takes umbrage to aspects of a press release made by the Central Corentyne and Berbice Chambers of Commerce on Thursday.
The two Chambers of Commerce in a joint press statement criticized the current government’s approach to the spike in criminal activities, describing the government as powerless, ineffectual, and out of its league.
The Chambers also said that the ranks of the Guyana Police Force lacked the full support and motivation of their political boss, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, who they say operates in a very high-handed and arrogant manner, by fighting with and demoralizing the police.
“ (He is) publicly chiding them for damaged vehicles, threatening to charge them for murder in shooting incidents, and then having them fund their own defence,” the Chambers of Commerce of Berbice and Upper Corentyne charged.
They claimed that now the police are so uncertain and scared to shoot that recently a policeman was almost killed by a bandit in Rose Hall in the presence of his armed colleagues.
“Taken in context with President Granger’s insistence on pardoning criminals, it is no surprise that gun crimes have spiraled out of control. Bandits have become more emboldened by the Government’s approach,” the two business bodies stated.
But the Police Association is calling on the Central Corentyne and Berbice Chambers of Commerce not to drag the Force into any political conflict.
It said that the Chambers should seek to give it meaningful support in its continuing efforts in the carrying out of its mandate to maintain public safety and security.
According to the Association, while there was a negative perception of the Force in the past, and members of the Force did not feel proud to wear their uniforms in public any longer, things have changed significantly for the better.
“Today, this has all changed in a very positive way and certainly the Honourable Minister Khemraj Ramjattan’s initiatives have contributed significantly to this current development.
“Policemen and women are now proud to wear their uniforms. This is reflected in their prompt response to crime. They are building public trust to the extent that serious crimes in the country have been reduced by 16%.
“Gun related robberies in Berbice, specifically, have been reduced by nine per cent, while robberies using other instruments have been reduced by 40% and robberies with violence by 60%,” the police association countered.
The association said that the Chambers need to answer how the Guyana Police Force with low morale still responds and confronts all criminal activities in society; how they are able to solve the many high profile crimes within two to three days of occurrence; and how it is involved in so many partnership programmes with civil society across Guyana.
The police association lashed out by noting that while several contributions were made by the Private Sector and civil society organisations towards social and security arrangements all across Guyana, over the last five years the Central Corentyne and Berbice Chambers of Commerce have contributed nothing at all.
“In trying to answer these questions one would see how ungrateful the members of the Berbice Chambers of Commerce are. The fact is that the Guyana Police Force is now highly motivated and carries out its mandate in a professional manner. Our members see their role in tackling crime as an effort towards crime prevention and the detection of crime as well as the prosecution of criminals in a more efficient way.
“Our job is not to shoot down people but we are trained to defend ourselves by using force that is necessary,” the police association declared.
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