By Alva Solomon

“I HAVE here a Cabinet paper since 2012, to come into operation in 2013 — signed by Dr Roger Luncheon to increase fees for shotguns from $2000 to $5000; so I don’t know what they are rowing about”.This was the sentiment expressed by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan as he spoke on the contentious increases on the costs of gun licences, which increase became topical during the budget debates this past week.

While addressing the National Assembly on Thursday evening, Ramjattan informed that the Opposition PPP/C had planned to increase the fees for gun licences. As he brandished a paper while speaking, he said that for reasons which may be political, the increases were not made; and he noted that the issue had been debated and passed at the Cabinet level during the PPP/C’s term in office.

He said handgun licences were slated to be increased from $5000 to $20,000, and rifle licences were to be increased from $25,000 to $40,000. Those increases were to have been implemented this year. “They did not implement it because probably for political reasons, but it was debated and they passed it in their Cabinet,” Ramjattan said.

As he shed light on issues raised for clarity by Opposition members including former Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, Ramjattan said the administration of SOCU, the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), falls under the Public Security Ministry. He informed that that agency was created when Rohee had headed the then Home Affairs Ministry. “The law, the protocols have been already drafted. That was done, as far as I understand, under Mr Rohee’s administration,” he said.

Ramjattan said the protocols on SOCU’s operations are outlined in a 6-page document which would be made public to ensure everyone is aware of the agency’s functions. Those functions, he noted, accord with the standing orders of the Guyana Police Force.

He said the Opposition had also raised the issue of pardons, mainly for women prisoners, and according to him, the Parole Board and arguments of the Office of the President under the Grant of Pardon saw a dozen women between the ages of 37 and 60 years being released late last year.

While arguing his points, he said if information were needed, his phone lines were open. He noted that, for political reasons, there might be misinformation as a result of no information.

STRATEGY
Rohee had earlier queried the mandate of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the Government’s drug fight. Ramjattan explained: “So we do have a strategy. The Public Security Ministry also has a final draft of the Drug Master Plan which was further refined; that which was there during the Rohee administration”, he informed.

Noting that former Chief of Staff of the GDF, Michal Atherly, was fine tuning the plan, he informed that CANU’s mandate fell under the umbrella of the Public Security Ministry. He added that CANU, the police Anti-Narcotics Unit and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) would work in tandem with each other under the organisation, the National Anti-Narcotics Agency (NANA).

“They will have their autonomy, these units; but they will come under an umbrella organisation for purposes of ensuring that their work can be integrated… So CANU, in a way, would know what the Police Narcotics are doing or the GRA is doing.” On this note, he said integration would be needed at a time when it is deemed necessary.

Speaking on the Ministry when he assumed his current post, Ramjattan said there were many recommendations which he found extraordinarily useful. He said stopping crime and violence is not going to be merely the task of law enforcement, as he alluded to points mentioned by Rohee.

He spoke on the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP), a $3B three-pronged programme which was launched recently by the Government to tackle crime.

“I want to tell Honorable Rohee and the members on the other side that the Citizen Security Programme is a 5-year plan, it is not a one- year programme,” Ramjattan said, noting that the project’s execution was already underway.

He said figures from an assessment done through the CSSP indicated that 52 per cent of Guyana’s crimes were committed in the capital city, and he added that such figures were reflected at police divisions across the country.

He said the CSSP involves community-based inputs, noting that such groups were being tooled and better resourced. He said more vehicles would be provided to the community groups, and on this note he clarified that, indeed, vehicles had to be reassigned from the community groups to assist the Force, as he criticised Rohee for under-equipping the Police Force in terms of transportation.

Ramjattan said the Government would increase the effectiveness of the Police Force, noting that the CSSP programme would be intelligence-led.

Ramjattan expressed appreciation to the United States authorities for providing assistance to the drug fight, and he alluded to the recent opening of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Georgetown, for which he commended the American authorities.

SUPPORT
He said Government has received support from the British authorities who were assisting the police in the area of immigration, as some 30 officers were being trained in the field. He said, too, that a number of policemen were going to Florida as well as New York and El Salvador for further training.

“In last year’s budget debates, I indicated how policemen weren’t having these training,” he said, adding that this was because of “certain controls”, over the Police Force. “You are saying that, but the police are telling me differently,” Ramjattan said as he looked across and replied to Rohee in the Opposition benches.

Later, as Ramjattan spoke on the upgrades to the police force, he was interrupted by Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira. “You will not fix my agenda, Madam, you never can do that!” Ramjattan spoke nonchalantly as he continued to outline the Government’s plans for the sector.

He addressed the infrastructural upgrades for the police force, and he noted that when the facilities are comfortable for the officers to work, they would deliver. He said that sums would be expended on a number of projects. These include rehabilitation of officers’ quarters at Port Kaituma ($7M), rehabilitation of Special Branch Admin building ($24M), the Leonora Police Station ($6M), Mounted Branch stable ($31M), the East La Penitence Police Station ($5.6M), construction of the Brickdam Lockups, upper flat ($20M) and the police band room refurbishment ($74M), with new drums for the Force’s band.

He added that a brand new police station would be built at La Parfaite Harmonie on the West Bank of Demerara, while police units such as ballistics ($10M) and communication equipment ($60M) will also see upgrades. The Force’s canines will receive a $4M upgrade.

Ramjattan said the Ministry recognises the importance of the other aspects of its mandate, including the Fire Department, which he noted would be realigned further in the years ahead. “It is going to be hard work, we are also getting support from the diaspora”, he said, adding that the Guyana Fire Service would receive assistance from overseas- based Guyanese who once served in that department.

He said the difficulties of crime and violence would not be solved in an overnight success, noting that the issue was also as difficult here as in neighbouring Trinidad and further afield in Jamaica. He said the police force, the prisons, the drug enforcement agencies and other bodies were working together. “We are going to beat this scourge,” Ramjattan said.