City Constabulary unable to efficiently address City’s needs
– ‘That’s just the reality’, Chief Constable Andrew Foo
ENCUMBRANCES on pavements and congestion of thoroughfares, increased thefts, and other common issues associated with the upcoming holiday season, especially in the busy streets of Georgetown, will not be significantly reduced this year from the Mayor and City Council’s standpoint. “That’s just the reality,” Chief Constable Andrew Foo said Tuesday, at his City Hall’s office, as he explained to this newspaper that the City Constabulary Department is short of staff by approximately 100.
The reason the above mentioned issues will prevail as per normal this year is due to the Council’s lack of human resources and equipment to efficiently address the needs of the city. For quite some time now, the council has remained in a cash-strapped position.
Nevertheless, the Chief Constable intends to use whatever resources at his disposal to do as much as possible. For example, he said the department will commit some 100 officers for the approaching holiday season.
Furthermore, more mobile patrols will be mounted to regulate vending activities and to serve as a deterrent to criminal elements who usually intensify their operations during this time.
To ease congestion along Regent Street, one of the primary streets used by shoppers during the holiday season, Foo said it was proposed that vendors there be relocated to Merriman’s Mall. However, it is unlikely that this will happen for this year, he said.
Conceding that nothing much and new can be done by the City Council this year to deal with the issues, Foo said the Constabulary will try its best to ensure that vendors do not block roadways, even though they will be allowed to continue business.
Officers will also strive to ensure that there is no new emergence of vendors so that the roadways and thoroughfares may not become worse in terms of congestion. This practice of vendors springing up ‘every minute of the day’ makes the problems worse, Foo offered.
The Constabulary Department has responsibility for the prevention and detection of crime in Georgetown, which has a 15 square miles radius. It has similar power and privileges of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and also has authority to prosecute persons for offences such as assault, disorderly behaviour, urinating in public places, using indecent language, encumbering the pavements and so forth.
According to Foo, officers in this department may only be seen around the market places and on the pavements but the department usually works hard on a daily basis arresting and prosecuting offenders of the by laws.
The department also provides security for municipal markets, day care centers, koker pumps, city hall buildings, among others. Providing security alone takes up much of the department’s resources, Foo remarked.
The Enforcement Unit, which deals with itinerant vending and other breaches of the laws, is also very small and short of its full component of staff.
Foo noted that the council has been trying to come to grips with the issues surrounding itinerant vending for years and is still struggling.
He observed that the problem remains even though the New Vendors Mall was established to accommodate street vendors.
Clerk of Markets Schulder Griffith told this newspaper recently that the once thriving Stelling View Market, in the vicinity of Stabroek Market, promises to hold more itinerant vendors and is expected to become operational by year end.