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$11B for security – any Guyanese feel safe?

Sep 15, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – “Home Affairs Ministry spends $11B in six months to secure Guyana-MidYear Report” (KN September 9).  As we examine this big number spent in such a short space of time, several questions surface, which we now put before our fellow Guyanese.

Who feels secure in this country today?  Which Guyanese in any part of this country has a sense of safety and confidence?  Which family, which company, closes its gates and doors at anytime of the day or night, and rests easy that all will be safe and sound when the next day comes?  Which shopper in our streets, which commuter around our markets, which worker to and from his or her place of employment possesses a strong sense that there are secure?  Or that the Government of Guyana, and our security institutions are doing their best for us, giving the best value that could be had for these billions that are being spent on our behalf?

We start out by speaking for ourselves.  A couple of the people who work for this newspaper have been attacked, robbed, and hurt.  We know of readers and others in the Kaieteur family, who have been victimised and are worried sick, all but crippled by anxiety and fear.  And almost daily, we carry reports of horrific criminal developments that leave many citizens and communities in a wretched state.  For $11B and in six months only, Guyanese should get more, citizens of this country must get better, feel safer, and it comes from being secure, to the point where it is the norm.

It should be noted that we make no mention of the many billions spent in years prior.  Nor do we say a single word about corruption in law enforcement, inclusive of collusions and cover-ups by weak members, and the ongoing contributions and linkages to crimes against persons and property.  It is good to hear about billions budgeted years after year, and $11B spent in a half year only, but we must have tangible things to show for all this money (taxpayers’ money) being spent.  We wish to be clear about something: we are neither speaking of, nor expecting, a crime-free environment and society.  That may only be so in heaven, or in those well-guarded spaces of high government officials and their cronies, who are provided such round the clock protections by the State (taxpayers’ money again); or are able to afford such security facilities out of their pockets.

What we are interested in is that we cease playing games with crime statistics, that we spend less time coming up with definitions that are convenient in what they include and what they leave out, and that we stop spending so much money on public relations to fill the heads of Guyanese who don’t know better with what are not real reflections of crime and security.  As one staggering example, there was a high-profile murder right in the vicinity of the official residence of this country’s head of state and his family, and we are still groping in the dark.  It appears that systems that should work are suddenly found to be limited, and that the people on the job are unable (or prevented) from delivering results.  After all the monies spent on security, this is where we are with something as prominent as this.

We now visit some concerns, which are likely on the minds of most Guyanese.  Since this is the state of affairs with which we live in a criminal execution of this kind, the conclusions of ordinary citizens have to be that they don’t stand a chance where basic protections and expected solutions are needed. We live with politicians boasting in government after government, with none exempted, about how many billions they spent on security, and yet this is what we live with daily and in communities across Guyana.

The national reality prevailing in Guyana today is that most citizens are haunted by some degree of fear, operate under some emotional tension, and function under a state of psychological stress, where security is involved.  This is after all these billions, all these big speeches, and all these big promises from politicians and protectors.  Perhaps, they care to comment and defend themselves.

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