Home Affairs Minister registers : utmost dismay and distress at stockpile of GDF arms & ammunition in questionable hands : –after being loaned to PNC ministry

HOME Affairs Minister Clement Rohee expressed yesterday, in a press statement, his utmost dismay and distress at the revelation emerging from the Rodney CoI that a huge amount of firearms had been distributed to the Ministry of National Development on August 10, 1979, and to date these cannot be accounted for.

His press statement described the situation as indeed a troubling and politically harmful development for our country.

According to evidence provided by the Officer-in-Charge of the “G2” Branch of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the firearms were issued to “Comrades” Skeete and R. Corbin of the Ministry of National Development. Over one hundred and fifty (150) of those guns were not returned to the GDF.

Among the firearms issued to those two “comrades” were: One hundred (100) M10 Browning pistols; fifteen (15) M70 rifles; five (5) M72 light machine guns; sixteen (16) Smith and Wesson pistols; four (4) HK11 light machine guns; fourteen (14) G3 rifles; four (4) general purpose machine guns (GPMG); forty (40) Beretta sub-machine guns; thirty-three (33) SLR rifles; six (6) .22 pistols; six (6).30 carbon pistols; and six (6) .33 rifles. One hundred and seventy-nine (179) 9MM rounds were issued, the statement detailed.

Rohee’s statement said that, as the minister responsible for public safety and security, “this astounding revelation has brought about an interesting but diabolical turn of events surrounding the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney. Further, the revelation places in jeopardy the internal security of our country, since no one knows for certain in whose hands these missing firearms are, save for the capture of firearms at the crime scene at Mahaicony.

The statement added that ballistics testing of the said firearms showed that they were part of the missing firearms that were handed over to the Ministry of National Development and “Comrades” Skeete and Corbin, but which ended up in the hands of criminals.

That particular crime perpetrated by a criminal gang with the use of some of the missing weapons clearly demonstrated the link with past to the present and provided incontrovertible evidence of the use of the missing firearms belonging to the GDF passing from the PNC to criminal elements, the GDF noted.

“It is now clear that the missing firearms were handed to criminals who used them to unleash a wave of terror in our country, which David Granger so cynically described as the “troubled period”, the statement concluded.

MoHA pointed out that “it is important to recall that the noise and hullabaloo Mr. Granger stirred up pretending to be a security expert, a champion of the National Security Interest of our country, as well as a defender of public safety and security was a smokescreen to direct attention from this diabolical period administered by the PNC”.

The statement said the mask has now fallen from the faces of those who sought to hide behind these sordid events, coloured by the placing of GDF firearms in the hands of criminals to wreak havoc in our country.

MoHA noted that what is even more troubling and dangerous is the fact that this huge amount of firearms is out there in the hands of unknown persons who most likely are not licensed to bear them.

The statement added that “to think about what they can be used for is not only scary but life threatening, and is a serious threat to public safety and security.

“The claim by Granger that guns are ‘pouring across our borders’ must now be weighed against the knowledge that we now have about these missing GDF firearms in the possession of unknown persons and freely circulating in our society. These two ominous factors pose a danger too frightening to imagine, MoHA said.

The statement pointed out that in light of this dangerous situation, it is necessary for Mr. Granger to come clean and reveal the truth to the nation about this huge amount of missing firearms at large in our society.

MoHA said, “Now we know it is Granger and his PNC Party, not Clement Rohee, who pose a security threat to our country and people.In the interest of public safety and security, I demand that the missing weapons be returned to the GDF, lest they be used for political objectives.”

Written By Michel Outridge

 

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