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President to release British expert’s report on security sector reform
The final report on the Security Sector Reform Project (SSRP) which was prepared by British security expert, Lt. Col (Ret’d) Russell Combe will be released to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.
This is the commitment given by President David Granger who received the report from Combe on January 18, last. The report came up during Thursday’s discussions between the President and Jagdeo which centered around the appointment of Leslie James as Commissioner of Police and four Deputy Commissioners.
“I have instructed that he [Jagdeo] be sent a copy of the report by Colonel Combe and during the month of October after the recess it will be made available to the National Assembly,” Granger stated.
The President had committed to have the report delivered to Jagdeo on Friday, but by midday, the report was not received.
Following Thursday’s meeting, Jagdeo indicated that the Opposition was still in the dark about security sector reform and plans to restructure the Guyana Police Force.
British Security Advisor Lt. Colonel Russel Combe
“We have heard about decentralisation of the police force; regionalization of its structure. The President said that he wants a pyramidal structure in the police force and I said that may be good, but we would like to see if there is an overarching vision that is driving all of these reforms,” Jagdeo pointed out.
The President has hailed the completion of the report as a monumental achievement for the coalition administration. Granger said that it aimed at addressing the root causes of crime and correcting the errors of over two decades of mismanagement of the security sector.
The President has been critical of the former governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP), pointing out that they have essentially ignored recommendations to improve the security sector over the years.
He reminded that the US$4.7B programme was initially scrapped in 2009 by the PPP Administration after the British Government had requested to have oversight of the programme, to ensure that there was ‘value for money’.
Granger had indicated that in 2016 he met former UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, and made a request for assistance with security sector reform.
Cameron agreed by facilitating Combe, an expert from the Olive Group, which was contracted by Engineering, Design, Construction, Management (AECOM), on behalf of the United Kingdom Government.
Granger had said that the previous plans focused on the symptoms of crime rather than the root causes which, at that time, was narcotics trafficking.
Granger had said that crime escalated because of the growing narcotics trafficking, which brought with it a horrific spate of violence that Guyana had never seen before.
Combe, whose office was housed at the Ministry of the Presidency during his one-year tenure in Guyana, has received a further contract extension through to 2019 to help implement the recommendations contained in the report.
According to Combe, the report is a dynamic document that builds upon previous work and also a reference document for the various security sector players and actors.
He noted that the report places emphasis on the Police Force. It includes recommendations for improvement of the criminal justice system, the Guyana Coast Guard and the Guyana Prison Service.
The UK, Combe outlined, doesn’t want to see the report sitting on the shelf gathering dust.
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