Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, on Wednesday engaged residents and members of the Industry/Ogle Community Policing Group (CPG) to discuss matters affecting them as it relates to security.
At the meeting, residents complained of vehicles without licence plates traversing the area in the wee hours of the morning, and called for more patrols by ranks of the Sparendaam Police Station.
Minister Rohee urged CPG and community members to interact more with the police in order to have more effective and organised patrols.
“You have a right to feel safe and secure, and the State is obliged to provide you with such; and that is why we are investing so much in this sector; but the police force alone cannot do it, the community needs to be more involved,” he said.
In 1992, the Home Affairs Ministry was allocated $13.4M, and in 2011 that sum increased to $1.9B.The Guyana Police Force got $589,491 compared to $5.7B in 2011, Guyana Defence Force’s allocation was $599M compared to $6.5B, Guyana Fire Service got $27M compared to $702M, and the Guyana Prison Service $68M as against $1B.
“When you look at the national budget over the past few years, health, education and security have been the priorities… not only have we been spending money on security, but the facts will show that there has been a steady increase each year,” the Minister said.
With regard to complaints of non-availability of vehicles at police stations, the minister said that government has been striving to ensure that each station is equipped with some form of transportation, and that the vehicles allocated to the various CPGs should be used to support the efforts of the police.
“We make it our responsibility to make vehicles available in each police division so that when people call, we don’t want to hear the excuse that there are no vehicles,” the Home Affairs Minister said.
He explained that with the installation of the CCTV cameras in strategic locations in the city, the police will be able to apprehend criminals more effectively, as a network will be established to ensure prompt response by patrol squads.
The minister made reference to a statement made by PNCR Presidential Candidate, David Granger who alleged that according to Crime Chief, Seelall Persaud, two armed robberies occur in Guyana on a daily basis.
The Guyana Police Force subsequently released a statement in which Persaud categorically denied having any discussions with Granger nor did he confirm such information at any time.
Divisional Commander, Gavin Primo reinforced his commitment to working with the residents to create a safer environment. He also said that while some officers have acted contrary to what they were sworn to do, there are many others who are very dedicated and are working towards a common goal. (GINA)
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Caption:  Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, and Divisional Commander, Gavin Primo, at the community meeting at Industry, East Coast Demerara.