– Public Security Minister says unresponsive system a ‘major embarrassment’

PUBLIC Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan has said that the police emergency hotline 911 “continues to be a major embarrassment” to the security forces, but said efforts are underway to fix the problem.The security minister’s statement comes in the wake of findings from the recently completed Commission of Inquiry into a fire at the state-run Drop-in Centre for disadvantaged children. The fire caused the death of two small boys. The investigation, which was completed by retired Colonel Windee Algernon, confirmed statements by the centre’s staffers that calls to the 911 service went unanswered.
The reliability of the 911 service has been a matter of concern for years with the former government blaming Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) for their poor service and the company denying responsibility, saying that the 911 service is controlled by the police force.
Ramjattan told the Guyana Chronicle that the police force continues to experience problems with the system and efforts are being made to secure the necessary equipment to improve it.
“We continue to experience major difficulties with the 911 system. We have to get more equipment that will facilitate the system,” the minister stated.
He said the acquisition of the necessary equipment and the improvement of technical aspects of the system “has proven to be costly”, and thus he could not say how soon there would be an improvement.
He noted, however, that platforms necessary for the system are being laid, and he has received a proposal from Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud to deal with the matter. Ramjattan said a proposal was also available from cellphone giant, Digicel.  (Zena Henry)