…deputy commissioner urges during inspection of China-gifted vehicles

ONE year after China’s government made a massive donation of vehicles and other equipment to the Guyana Police Force (GPF), an inspection was yesterday carried out to ensure that the officers have been keeping these vehicles in good condition to continue with the effective execution of their duties.

This donation was worth US$2.6 million, and consisted of 56 pickup trucks, 35 ATVs, five big buses, 20 600 cc motorcycles, and 24 200 cc motorcycles. The donation, it was said, was made to boost the crime-fighting capacity of the GPF.

The inspection saw ranks from Divisions ‘A’, ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘E.’ Deputy Commissioner Maxine Graham explained to the media that Divisions ‘B’, ‘G’ and ‘F’, carried out the very inspections in their various divisions, since they wanted to avoid bringing all the vehicles to central Georgetown.

Graham said that after the vehicles were inspected, it was concluded that they are being kept in a reasonable state.

“And given that they are used for all purposes, patrols, general duty work and so on, looking at them you can see they are in very good condition, just as they were handed over to us,” she added.

During the year, Graham said that the vehicles were not problematic since officers would have been following the guidelines given by the Chinese. “They said after 5000 miles, we have to take them to service. And we did just that, and we have not gotten any form of engine problems,” she said.

One vehicle however, is out of service and that is the one at Mahaica, Graham shared. She added that there were two incidents: one in Berbice and the other in Linden, which damaged two vehicles; but the divisions repaired them and they are back in good working condition.

The deputy commissioner shared that they will not be waiting another year to have an inspection, but will be keeping it again in another six months, so as to keep close tabs on what is happening.

In addition to the inspection, Graham told the Guyana Chronicle that they have marked each vehicle with the division and station to which it belongs, and a contact number to the respective stations. With this, she urges members of the public to use such information to report when they see a misuse of these vehicles.

“I’m asking the members of the public, that if they see any police vehicle not being used for its purpose, to call and report. On each vehicle, the division, station and number is printed on both sides. If you see the misuse, call the relevant commander and report their misconduct,” she said.