Less than twenty four hours after Irish Financial Investigation expert, Dr. Sam Sittlington called on stakeholders to address the current lack of resources affecting the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), President David Granger says he has signed the Appropriation Bill and the disbursement of funds is currently in the hands of the Ministry of Public Security and the Guyana Police Force.

“Money should be released shortly; it is up to the Minister of Public Security and the Commissioner of Police to ensure that the money is spent for the reasons which it has been budgeted,” the President told reporters following the opening ceremony of the Guyana Police Force’s annual Officer’s conference on Thursday.

Dr. Sittlington disclosed that SOCU is strained for human resources and its current human resource capacity cannot match the number of investigations currently being conducted.

“SOCU currently manage a total of 285 investigations, 59 of those are live investigations of which immediate action is required and the remaining held until further intelligence becomes available. Prioritising is essential,” said the Irish Financial Investigation expert.

A total of $40M was budgeted under the Ministry of the Presidency for SOCU’s operations.  [Ariana Gordon]