LAST Friday, the Citizen Security Programme (CSP) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) – Building Safe Neighbourhoods through Violence Prevention – held its media launching at the Grand Coastal Hotel at Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara. Subject Minister, Clement Rohee endorsed the programme, dubbing it one that was implemented to make a positive contribution to society in addressing crime and violence.
Giving a brief history of the successes of the CSP programme, the minister trotted out comparative crime statistics under the current administration as opposed to the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) for the past seven years.
Rohee told the gathering that the levels of the nine areas of serious crimes in Guyana are lower now than then.
Responding to constant debate and criticisms by some sections of society regarding the level of crime and violence in Guyana,  Rohee noted that while citizens’ concerns about public safety are justified, it is inaccurate to conclude that crime and violence are spiralling out of control in the country, as the statistics would show otherwise.
“There is no ‘one-shoe-fits-all’ method to addressing this problem…crime is not something that you can simply wish away. It’s a constant fight, one which this administration is committed to,” the minister assured.
The following table compares the crime rates during the last seven years of the PNC administration (1986-1992) with those of the last seven years under the PPP administration (2004-2010).
The nine broad categories examined are: murder, robbery, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny, rape, burglary, and break and enter and larceny.

Meanwhile, personal development presentations were made by Michael Gills, Indira Anandjit and Claudia Johnson; Child abuse prevention presentations were also made by Patricia Gray, while domestic/intimate partner violence prevention was presented by Beverley Braithwaite-Chan, and the group from Agricola performed a youth violence prevention skit entitled “When fathers go missing”.
CSP Community Action Specialist, Rosanne Purnwaise said the project, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), started in 2007 with the goal of reducing crime and violence in ten targeted communities.
She added that the programme is being executed with close support from the MOHA and the Guyana Police Force (GPF). She said that each of the 10 community action councils has representatives from the GPF.
“What we want is direct links with the police; they are a key link in building the safe neighbourhoods through crime and violence prevention strategies to ultimately create safer neighbourhoods.
“We are also targeting situational crime prevention, where we are hoping that we can assist the communities to recognise crime prevention strategies. The programme will be executed through facilitators within or in nearby communities.”
CSP Project Coordinator, Khemraj Rai said the Community Action Component (CAC) was implemented for the social development programmes, in order to prevent crime and violence. He noted that it is a six-month skills and vocational training for youths under the age of 25 who have dropped out of school and have no form of documentation to verify that they are employable.
Rai said the course also included violence prevention seminars; a seminar on youth violence, child abuse and domestic/intimate violence prevention will be held in each of the 10 communities.
Rai explained that another aspect of the programme included entrepreneurial training for young persons who have the aptitude to run their own businesses. These persons will be linked in an apprenticeship or internship arrangement with an already established business. Additionally, the CAC will be providing the appropriate training.
The Community Action Component (CAC) of the IDB-funded security project is hosting a number of skills training and personal enhancement programmes for at-risk youths in low-income communities.
CAC falls under the purview of the Citizen Security Programme (CSP), and it aims to encourage youths to realise their potential and to boost their self-esteem by enhancing their capacities.
The CSP was conceptualised to use a comprehensive structure of crime and violence prevention strategies, to assist in decreasing the present crime rate in Guyana and facilitating smaller community action projects that are geared to promote community cohesion and intra-community camaraderie.
The goal of the CAC is to assist communities to become sustainable in their functions as neighbourhoods in which all persons are included in the creation of a safe environment, and young people are provided with opportunities that would prevent them from participating in criminal and violent activities.