– says Opposition’s non-support regrettable, a personal fixation
HOME Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said that it is very regrettable that the parliamentary opposition parties, the Alliance for Change and A Partnership for National Unity, will not support the reform and modernization of the security forces.

The minister was at the time speaking in an exclusive interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA). His comments were in response to an article published by online news site Demerara Waves, which stated that the opposition was willing to support changes in the security forces but not with Minister Rohee at the ministry which oversees that process.
The minister described the position of the opposition as one that has been reduced to a personal fixation on the serving minister.
During the interview, Rohee said that the reform is something that will benefit the entire nation and its citizens.
On Monday December 31, Minister Rohee announced several changes in the modus operandi of the Ministry of Home Affairs and its agencies.
The changes also saw the announcing of name changes for the Guyana Police Force and Fire and Prison Services.
The move was part of the reform and modernization of the security sector, in keeping with the Citizen Security Programme.
The changes and calls for reform followed a long cry by many citizens, including members of parliament on the opposing side of the house.
However, on Wednesday the combined opposition indicated that while the modernizing process is welcome, it cannot work with minister Rohee in charge.
On Wednesday evening, Rohee stated that it is important for leaders of the country, both in government and opposition, to go beyond personalization of issues and focus on matters of national importance.
He warned that once leaders are caught up in petty personality issues, they “will get lost among the trees and will be unable to see the forest”.
The forest, he mentioned’ includes the reforms which are long overdue and which took the ministry quite a while to formulate.
Rohee explained that when he took over the helm of the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2006, by 2007 into 2008, the Citizen Security Programme began rolling out and focused on three components.
He reminded that those were the reform and modernization of the Guyana Police Force, the institutional modernization of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the community action component.
The formulation of the plan for each component had to pass through the Inter-American Development Bank, and the rules, policies and guidelines of the bank had to be followed. There was the process of securing consultants to formulate the strategic plan for the Guyana Police Force, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Guyana Prison Service.
He pointed out that after the process of securing the consultants, there was then the process of inception report where the technical persons working along with the reform had to meet with various persons of their choice to get feedbacks.
Rohee stated that the ministry had no control over who the technical persons engaged. When that process was completed, the report was sent to the government who had to deliberate and agree at the level of Cabinet. The consultants then moved to the next stage which entailed formulation of the strategic plan.
After the plans were formulated, the next step was the implementation of the plan and that had to deal with money. The minister explained in the interview that every step attracted a cost that was necessary for its implementation.
According to him, when it went to the Cabinet the costs had to be looked at and there was the process of checking to ensure that the funds were available to ensure the implementation of the various aspects of the Programme.
As such, Minister Rohee bashed Alliance for Change Leader Khemraj Ramjattan for accusing the government of completing the reform process since 2010 and failing to take it to the National Assembly.
The views of Mr.Ramjattan only shows his ignorance as it  relates to the process, rules and regulations of the bank and which the government was mandated to subscribe to.
After it was clear that the support was there and the systems were in place with all the technical work being completed by the end of 2011 and into 2012, the ministry found it necessary to announce the plan of action, Minister Rohee added. The government minister also said that it had to do with commonsense.
According to him it would have made absolute no sense for the ministry to announce the completion of a process prematurely, when it was not sure about the availability of funds. It was only when those things were all sorted out that the ministry was sure that the process was ready and could be presented to the cabinet, and by extension, the nation.
Minister Rohee said that it had nothing to do with covering up anything, and should the process be followed through with him at the helm of the ministry or not, he made it clear that the modernization will be beneficial to the Guyanese people and the country as a whole and that is what matters.
He said that what is important is that the country’s security and the safety of the citizens of this country are in safe hands, thus the modernization and reform process outlined by the ministry on Monday is the way to go.
On Monday Minister Rohee announced several changes for the agencies which fall under his ministry’s purview. Among those were the proposed name changes of some institutions.
The Guyana Police Force is to be changed to the Guyana Police Service, The Guyana Fire Service to the Guyana Fire and Rescue Service, and the Guyana Prison Service to the Guyana Correctional Service.
However, despite the approval of cabinet for the name changes, the bodies are all institutional ones and any adjustments to their functions and identity would have to be sanctioned by the National Assembly by way of law.
With the government having one seat less than the combined opposition parties in the House the support of the name change could be in limbo.