–to maintain new fleet of vehicles

THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Thursday began a two-day course to train ranks on how to operate and maintain the close to US$2M worth of vehicles donated to it by the People’s Republic of China, to help boost its capacity.

The course, which is in keeping with a decision to decentralise logistics in the Force, is being conducted by Mr Hou Jian, a Chinese national, and is being held at the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) Square at Eve Leary.

Of the vehicles which were donated to the GPF, 56 are pickups, 40 motorcycles, 35 ATVs and five buses. The Force has also been in receipt, courtesy of the Chinese government, of 550 items of protective gear, 40 desktop and 30 laptop computers, 10 each of scanners, printers and photocopy machines, 30-decibel meters, and five generator sets. Together with the vehicles, the overall value of the donation is pegged at US$2.6M.

Head of Police Operations, Assistant Commissioner Clifton Hicken has said that due to the formation of a strategic planning unit, Police Commanders and ranks now have to adhere to strict Terms of Agreement where the maintenance of the new vehicles are concerned.
“What we are doing now is that we have decentralised logistics officers spanning the seven administrative divisions and their departments,” Hicken said, adding:“We will have standardisation in terms of maintaining the vehicles at the required standard as expected, so we can have the shelf life of the vehicles.”

He said that coming out of the decentralisation, there will be databases on all subdivisions, which will promote accountability of vehicles in their respective divisions. He further noted that there will be a warning system in place to ensure that vehicles are properly serviced, and that all data will be centralised in Georgetown to ensure compliance with new policies being implemented in the Force.

He said vehicles will be dispatched adequately to various divisions, housing and shopping areas and hot spots during the Christmas season.
Underscoring that the 911 system covers 52 Police Stations, Hicken said vehicles will be strategically placed in close proximity to those stations so as to reduce the response time and help the Force regain the trust it once had with communities and members of the public.