PRESIDENT David Granger is paying close attention to efforts to address the crime situation. At the weekly post-cabinet media briefing yesterday, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said there is inter-agency collaboration and President Granger is involved on a weekly basis.
Minister Harmon noted that Government has recognised that things have to be done to curb the crime situation in Guyana. With that, he pointed to the strategic plan that was laid out in the National Assembly on Tuesday, August 18. This was done by Vice President and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan.
According to Ramjattan, “The plan contains the element of an overall strategy, which we will use in fighting crime.”
To that end, Minister Harmon noted that “the police, army and other law- enforcement agencies are required to prepare reports and to speak on their preparedness to deal with the matter.” He also disclosed that Government is providing additional resources to the police to make sure that they can deal with the crime situation.
In addition, he pointed out that some matters, for example, a feud between two persons that gets violent cannot be planned for, but noted that the response time should be prompt.
There has been an increase in serious crimes during January to the end of May, 2015, when compared with the same period for 2014.
The Government has been increasing the number of police officers on patrol and laying out a crime-fighting strategic plan.
The Minister of Public Security in his budget presentation, had said that fighting crime is not a ‘twenty-twenty game, but more of a Test match, as tackling the situation will take time.