HOME Affairs Minister Clement Rohee was allowed by Speaker Raphael Trotman to break his silence in the National Assembly yesterday. He was invited to address the House on the recent spate of serious crimes but the opposition parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) walked out after they failed in their bid to have the Speaker reverse his decision to allow Mr. Rohee to speak. Mr. Trotman informed the House that, in view of the recent serious crimes, particularly the killing of a four-year-old boy in Linden, for which he, earlier, expressed condolences to the family and relatives of the victim, on behalf of himself and the National Assembly, he would invite Rohee’s remarks.
But Leader of the Opposition and APNU, Mr. David Granger rose, on a point of order, objecting to Rohee being permitted, reminding the Members of Parliament (MPs) of a motion which was passed to prevent the latter from speaking.
Granger was supported by his colleague, Mr. Basil Williams; but the Speaker said that, following a related ruling by the High Court and deliberations by the Committee of Privileges, which indicated that the matter continues to be addressed by the Court, he had written to the parties informing them of the state of affairs.
Mr. Trotman said he also sought legal advice on the controversy and, in the end, he, emphatically declared that he was sticking to his decision to allow Rohee to speak and the opposition immediately staged their walkout, leaving the benches on their side of the House empty.

Strategic plans
In his presentation, Rohee indicated that he has strategic plans to reform the operations of the security forces and the Home Affairs Ministry and, in this regard, a strategy management unit has been established to implement these reforms
With respect to the Police, he said the implementation of the plan would bring substance to the name change from the Guyana Police Force to the Guyana Police Service, rather than it being merely cosmetic.
As regards the Guyana Fire Service , the Minister said there will be fundamental changes and a principal feature would the change to a fire and rescue service. For that purpose, he disclosed that auxillary services will be established at Mahdia, Kwakwani and elsewhere
However, he acknowledged that, while the strategic plans are a formidable response, the challenge would be with their successful implementation.