Police corruption and sex in the office

Jun 23, 2019 The Story within the Story

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By Leonard Gildarie

The past couple of weeks have been eventful. There were the rulings in the Caribbean Court of Justice regarding the no-confidence vote. Then news broke of a scandal at the Timehri airport regarding accusations of sexual assaults and harassment by senior officials. In the news also were some damning allegations against police ranks in Berbice and links to seniors in Georgetown.

I am gathering my thoughts on the no-confidence rulings. This will not go away anytime soon. The country is deeply divided and for the next few months, the decisions that will be taken by the Coalition Government and the Opposition will speak volumes of who we are as a people of a developing country.
We must be responsible as a people and not be swayed by the actions and words of a few politicians. While we are busy fighting, there are things happening. Several foreign companies are here preparing for when we will be pumping oil…we all know it is a matter of months.
We have to continue to up the pressure so that we can get a better deal. We own those oil fields, yet we seem to have little say. That is a very stupid problem to have.
Last week, there were reports in Kaieteur News about the accusations by a woman who works at the Timehri airport.
A supervisor at a duty-free business of a concessionaire, she is accusing a senior official of the airport of kissing and touching her last year in his office without her consent.
For almost a year, she waited for a word from the management of the airport. Reportedly, she received the courtesy of a text message telling her that the matter has been addressed.
Last week, the woman filed a complaint to the police. The airport responded by taking away her security pass and sending the senior official home. It was felt that the airport was vindictive as without the security passes, the woman cannot work.
Later in the week, more women reportedly came forward accusing another official of sexual harassment.
In Berbice, a number of whistle-blowing cops spoke to reporters, including from Kaieteur News, leveling accusations against other cops for wrongdoing. The cops are being accused of being in league with criminals, of openly associating with criminals and even lending protection to drug shipments.
There were claims that police ranks were being forced to collect bribes from drivers and hand these over to senior officials.
Now, these are no ordinary accusations.
For cops to talk to reporters, giving details and with news that the numbers of their colleagues were in the phones of dead bandits, should raise red flags.
The business community in Berbice came out. The regional officials expressed alarm.
A number of the crime incidents in Berbice over the last few months were shocking. It appeared that the bandits were tipped off when police would move in on their locations.
On Friday, the police confirmed that its internal office was conducting investigations.
Let us stop here and examine.
In recent years, the country has been clamouring for more systems of transparency. In fact, it was this same Coalition Government which ordered a number of forensic audits to determine the health of our state agencies.
The Public Procurement Commission was constituted.
Then there is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) for the mining and oil sectors and EU-FLEGT arrangements for timber.
In other words, we are moving to have independent review of our systems.
Claims that the airport took an entire year to get back to the woman should raise immediate alarm bells. The airport is not supposed to investigate itself.
Police officials said that the matter should have immediately been reported to the police. The airport’s Human Resources Department failed its mandate.
It is like the airport deciding to investigate a murder on its premises without calling in the police.
Another woman who came forward to accuse a senior official of demanding that she consider having relations with him or lose her job, claimed that she made a report to the police in 2012 but she did not hear back.
I know both men who are being accused. I guess that our relationship will never be the same again. That is okay. The airport belongs to the people and frankly, my mandate is to the people of Guyana. There are so many things that is so wrong with the airport matter.
Does that airport have protocols in place for complaints of sexual harassment? Who investigates when a complaint is made? Now that one of the investigating officials is being fingered in similar cases, should the people of Guyana be worried?
Imagine sending your teen daughter or sister to work at the airport and you hear something like this?
There has been deafening silence from the airport’s Board of Directors. Two of the airport’s most senior functionaries are embroiled and there is little word.
In the meantime, the women involved are watching. The families are watching.
We should and must have an independent review.
The police are involved now. But how much independence is there? If one woman complained in 2012 and never heard back, should the alarm bells be ringing about the independence of the police?
With regards to the police whistleblowers, this is even more worrisome.
The police force is our premier domestic security force.
While over time it is a known fact that the people had lost confidence in the force, there has been a marked attempt to reverse the sentiments. There have been changes in the makeup of the force with the appointment of a new commissioner and a number of deputies.
Based on what is being reported in the media, it can be strongly argued that the internal mechanism of the police force is not the right body to investigate its own ranks.
There is a very simple reason. The whistleblowers have reportedly implicated at least one very high-ranking police officer from Georgetown.
The President and the Cabinet have reportedly been briefed.
The county of Berbice is a critical hot-spot area where the Opposition enjoys significant support. The Government must assure the people there that it is the government for all Guyana. This matter should spark an immediate inquiry. What went wrong? Are the police involved in organised crime in Berbice?
The questions are many and need to be put to rest once and for all.
Both the airport complaints and the accusations by the Berbice whistleblowing cops will test our resolve to address burning issues that strike at our core.

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