THE Committee of Supplies of the National Assembly on Thursday approved in excess of $18B to fund capital and current expenditure for the Ministry of Public Security and its related agencies in 2018.
Under its capital projects, more than $3B will be expended while current expenditure will be valued in excess of $15B.

Of the allocated sums, the $1,175,314 will be expended for the purposes of policy development and administration under the Public Security Ministry.
This will see donations to several associated agencies, among them the Guyana Road Safety Council and the Parole Board.

According to Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, the approved sums will also allow for increased intelligence capacity through the Crime and Security Intelligence funding, establishment of a wider intelligence network and the employment of five security analysts in the Planning Unit of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
More than $13M will be paid to various organisations to which the Guyana Police Force is associated. Among them are INTERPOL and the Association of Caribbean Police Commissioners.

Capital expenditures will see the acquisition and installation of a new surveillance system, acquisition of land and water transport equipment coupled with the completion, rehabilitation and construction of several police stations.
Meanwhile, there will be the continued construction of a modern state-of-the-art prison at Mazaruni to house an additional 400 prisoners and the Guyana Fire Service will be the recipient of new ambulances and tenders.

Further, in keeping with the Government’s commitment to reduce the number of contracted workers by migrating them to the fixed pensionable establishment, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan informed the Committee of Supply that there has been a steady effort to achieve the said goal.
To this end contracted employees at the Ministry are projected to be reduced, from 244 currently to 160, in 2018.

The Minister also indicated a projected reduction in the cost of ration for inmates of the various prisons, given an increased output of poultry and other agricultural produce at various prison locations.
Budget 2018 valued in excess of $257B was read on Monday, November 27 and debated over a period of seven days.