TWO years after the announcement by the government to implement a regional commander system to foster effective management of the country’s geographical location, the proposal has been approved.

On the sidelines of the opening of the Police Officers’ Conference on Thursday, Minister of Public security, Khemraj Ramjattan told the Guyana Chronicle that the National Security Committee and subsequently Cabinet have both approved the initiative.

The system, however, will not be rolled out just yet as there are several logistics which are expected to be put in place, according to the Minister of Public Security. He pointed to the physical infrastructure for the functioning of the divisions and the establishment of headquarters for the respective divisions which will soon be brought on stream.

With the system from divisional to regional commanders, the police force is likely to see some major transformations as it relates to the establishment of commanders. The move is also expected to see some regions being headed by superintendents also. “The process is presently going on to ensure that all police divisions accord with the regional divisions so we are going to have one to ten divisions; that means places like what is currently known as ‘F’ Division would see Regions 7, 8, 9 etc, having their own commanders,” Ramjattan told the Guyana Chronicle.

The systems will also provide for better supervision of ranks and also for the administrative heads of the regions at the police level, having a better grasp of what is taking place under their noses as against what presently exists where some commanders are centrally located but find it hard to get to the remote locations of their divisions due to terrain.

It is unclear if with the new structure, the Guyana Police Force will again seek to increase its strength to ensure there is enough human resources to staff the various regional divisions, as some ranks are expected to be pulled and transferred to other locations. “The mapping of boundaries in each of the administrative divisions will also have to be checked out; they have their townships already, so we will have a division for Region 9—Lethem–and that will be in Lethem. Bartica will have its headquarters and division too, so that is what we are trying to do” Ramjattan explained. The Regional Commanders system was first proposed in 2016, several months after President David Granger took office.

Speaking at the opening of the Guyana Police Force Officers’ conference last week, President Granger underscored that human safety is necessary to ensure the country’s stability. “Our country must be secured against trafficking in drugs, guns, and people. Public security will signal to investors that this country is a safe destination for their investments,” the President said. Noting that change must take place at the level of the country itself, President Granger said government cannot continue to ignore the Constitutional reality that the Government governs 10 administrative regions – not districts or divisions.

“There is only one Government. That Government’s policy is executed through its 10 regions. Each region will be administered by a capital town. Each region must provide its citizens with public services, including public security. Each region must have its own police division that is coterminous with the administrative region. Security sector reform will reconfigure the police divisions, increasing them to 10 so as to correspond with Guyana’s administrative system,” the President said.