A PROPOSAL by expert consultants to consolidate the crime, fire and medical emergency numbers – 911, 912 and 913 – is being considered, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee disclosed yesterday.

“If it’s a fire you call the same number; if it’s a Police request you call the same number; if there’s an accident you call the same number. We will study whether to keep the 911 separate from 912,” he told a press conference at Freedom House, in Robb Street, Georgetown.
Mr. Rohee revealed that two American experts spent five days in Guyana, last week, reviewing the emergency hotline system, as well as visiting police stations and meeting with various stakeholders.
Their report, the minister said, is still to be submitted for review and, while he could not state how much was paid to the foreigners, he acknowledged that Cabinet approved a “tidy sum” for the undertaking.
Rohee said: “I felt it was necessary to bring them here, at great cost, for them to do some rectification of the 911 system because the complaints were numerous. Therefore, we couldn’t sit on our hands and do nothing about it.”
He said, too, that the need for the expertise was necessary, given the lack of “internal capacity” to address the deficiencies in the network.
National capacity
“Apparently, we don’t have the capacity, at the national level in Guyana, to correct this deficiency. So I thought it was necessary to bring persons from outside, since we don’t have the national capacity here to address this problem,” Rohee asserted.
Last December, the minister remarked on the poor performance of the 911 service, acknowledging that the criticisms aired to date are genuine.
“I am fed up with this whole situation of poor performance of the 911 system,” he declared, referring to the fact that the problem has been raised time and time again.
He proffered the opinion that it could not be as a result of staffing, as the police have sufficient “general duties” staff to man the 911 line.
“This issue has come up at several meetings….I don’t know if it is a technological problem,” Rohee admitted.
In addition to the recruitment of the foreign expertise, the minister also promised to meet with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T), the Police, Home Affairs officials and other stakeholders to address the issue.