…to commence work by looking at outstanding issues – Chairman
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday swore in the five members of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and appointed the body’s Chairman, paving the way for the appointments, promotions and matters of discipline to be addressed within the Guyana Police Force. The swearing-in took place in the Credentials Room of the Office of the President, in the presence of many prominent officials of law enforcement agencies.
The members are Harold Martin, Francis Clark, Dennis Morgan, Lloyd Smith and Ganga Persaud. Morgan was also sworn in as Chairman.
Approached for a comment, Chairman Morgan said, “Well, as you know, the Police Service Commission, under the constitution, looks at appeals, promotion matters, cadetships, acting appointments and other related matters from time to time.”
He said the commission had been ‘dormant’ since its life ended in October last year. “Our task right now is to peruse the matters that might have been pending, new matters that might have been there, and try to prioritise them; and then from there, take a step at a time to get back to normalcy.”
He said there are standard procedures that dictate promotions; and then if there are promotions pending, the commission will follow the procedure and proceed onwards.
“The question as to what we prioritise [will depend on] when we go in there and sit as members,” Morgan, who was chairman of the last Commission, said he does not have a count of all the disciplinary actions that the Commission would have taken over its last tenure, “but I know that we did handle quite a few disciplinary matters and quite a few appeals as well.”
The Chairman said that while the last Commission agreed on sanctions by way of dismissals, it would be unethical of him to comment further on the details. But he assured that the Commission followed standard procedures in the administration of these dismissals of members of the Guyana Police Force.
The Chairman said that with the exception of Alvin Smith, all of the members sworn in yesterday sat on the last commission. Smith, he said, would have sat on a commission some years ago.
“But I must say that all of the members of the commission are very knowledgeable people. They have all been serving members of the Guyana Police Force and they held very senior positions, such as deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner,” he said.
“I myself have been on the commission 13 years, serving in various capacities besides being chairman for six or seven years…we all have good working knowledge of the commission and of the police force. So we have a well-balanced commission and you can always expect our decisions to be fair for everyone,” he said.
He noted that he himself is a private sector person and has never served in the police force. He is also the Chairman of Denmor Garment Manufacturing.