…use of U.S. currency, surveillance cameras among issues for discussion

HEAVY use of the U.S. currency and poor surveillance footage amongst other vulnerabilities will be discussed when Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan meets with the Chinese business community in October.

In an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday, Ramjattan said the Chinese business community feels they are being targeted, but bandits are making use of opportunistic crimes. He said people of many other ethnicities are being robbed, including locals, Brazilians and Cubans and it is not that bandits are targeting one specific group, but it’s an issue of persons not being security conscious.

“Those who are victims are generally as a result of opportunistic criminals who prey on those who may not have been alert and are vulnerable,” Ramjattan noted. He said the motives of those caught do not suggest any such profiling. The public security minister said that business persons who handle large sums of cash need to be more careful and alert. He however promised stepped-up police patrols in the business community.

Cash-based
Ramjattan said the business community needs to reduce dependence on their heavy cash-based system. He advocated once again that citizens and businesses move away from the use of cash to debit, credit cards and cheques for their transactions. This has been proven to result in a significant drop in crime, he added.

He noted that the huge sums of money that people walk around with is one of the factors that is driving the crime rate and he has pleaded with the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association to encourage businesses to move towards using plastic and cheques for transactions.

Minister Ramjattan and Commissioner of Police Leslie James had recently met with Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Cui Jianchun, to discuss security issues related to the Chinese Community. At the meeting, ambassador Jianchun had raised issues facing the Smart City project which will be funded by a loan from China, along with the China-Caribbean Countries Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Conference held in Grenada recently.

High on the list of concerns for the ambassador was the string of burglaries that seemed to disproportionately affect Chinese businesses. Reports indicate that many Chinese business owners have lost properties to theft; and some have even been subjected to violence. In November 2017, the People’s Republic of China handed over vehicles and other equipment worth a total US$2.6 million to the Guyana Police Force, as part of its continued support for the government’s crime- fighting strategies. Among the items donated were: over 56 pickups, 44 motorcycles, 35 ATVs, Five motor buses, 550 protective gear items, 70 computers (desktops and laptops), 10 scanners, 10 printers, 10 photocopying machines, 30 decibel meters and five generator sets.