EVEN as calls have been made for answers to be given regarding the 155 Guyana Defence Force (GDF) weapons that went missing during the 1970s and 1980s, Dr Roger Luncheon insists that the Army is actively engaged in trying to locate them.Speaking during his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday at Office of the President, the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) stated that the GDF has been given a mandate by the Defence Board and Cabinet to address the issue of the missing weapons.

“The Guyana Defence Force been given a mandate by the Defence Board and by the Cabinet to be involved in each and every instance where weapons, similar, if not identical to the ones that have gone missing, are used when they are discovered….they have a mandate to get involved and reacquire these weapons,” he said.
The HPS noted that all efforts have to be made to get the weapons out of the hands of criminals, and return them to their rightful owners.
Dr Luncheon pointed out that the weapons turned up during the crime wave of 2002, which rocked Guyana.
“These weapons turned up in the hands of criminals…that is when the questions started to be asked,” he said.
Guyana’s unprecedented crime wave was responsible for numerous murders, kidnappings, and robberies and dates back to the infamous February 23, 2002 jailbreak, when five dangerous and armed prisoners escaped and sought refuge in Buxton village, which was widely regarded as a safe haven for criminals.
QUESTIONS CONTINUE
Similar questions continue to be asked, more so in the latter part of 2014, following revelations made at the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) addressing the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Walter Rodney.
Last August, Lieutenant Colonel Sydney James, who spent three days at the CoI on the witness stand, testified and submitted documentation that the GDF loaned high-powered military weapons to the People’s National Congress’ (PNC) Ministry of National Development.
The records that Lieutenant Colonel James tendered as evidence to the Commission showed that the GDF loaned 200-odd weapons to the Ministry, as well as paramilitary organisations and other agencies.

“The President has said it publicly, we want back we weapons…the missing weapons, the date, etc. all of this is in the public domain,” Luncheon stressed.
As recently as Monday, General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, stressed that answers must be given to these questions.
“The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has taken note of the deafening silence of APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) Leader and Presidential Candidate Brigadier (rtd) David Granger on a number of issues for which Guyanese are eagerly awaiting answers,” the PPP General Secretary said.
According to him, Granger, as well as the General Secretary of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Joseph Harmon, should be called to testify at the CoI.
Rohee said, “They should not be above scrutiny, in so far as the missing weapons are concerned…they worked in the military, they know what went on.
“…the Commission of Inquiry has the legal authority, the legal remit, to summon Mr. Harmon and Mr. Granger to appear before the Commission to answer many questions associated with the demise of Dr Walter Rodney, as well as with respect to the weapons that have disappeared.”
Both Granger and Harmon, currently in senior leadership positions with APNU, served with the GDF during the 1970s and 1980s.
STANDING ORDER
In a prior comment, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Donald Ramotar, accepted his responsibility, relative to the efforts to locate the missing weapons, and stressed that the recovery of illegal weapons by law enforcement agencies is a standing order.
“This is one of the important functions of the security forces, to get the weapons back. There is a standing order to get the weapons back,” he said.

Until the weapons are returned, the President has assured that the relevant law enforcement agencies will continue their efforts to recover them.
“We have been making a lot of efforts to get the weapons back, but maybe part of the reason we have not succeeded was what I just said, because of who was heading the army and the police at that time and where are they now,” he said.
Mr. Ramotar stated too that his administration is committed to ensuring that illegal weapons are taken off the streets and out of the hands of criminals.
He said: “Law enforcement agencies continuously will try to recoup those weapons…all the illegal weapons on the road, all the illegal weapons in the society, all the weapons in the hands of criminals, it is the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies to continue their work to try to get them back.”
Some 200-odd weapons were loaned to the PNC’s Ministry of National Development and to date 155 are still missing today.