THE capacity of White Water’s Community Policing Group (CPG) has been significantly boosted. The Region One CPG received a boat engine and an ATV which were handed over by Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan.

Chairman of the group, Cleveland De Souza, said that they will now be able to execute their mandate effectively. He explained that to visit various communities, they would have to walk miles to reach some of the satellite villages or paddle for over three hours to get to the villages upriver.

“Our area is very large, so we will use the ATV to get to the villages, and that is about one and a half hours getting to the satellite areas. Also, the [boat] engine will help with reaching areas in the river like Bamboo Landing. Now, we will get there regularly and talk to our people,” he stated.

Desouza detailed that the members of the CPG “had to walk for about three hours” where the road leads to the satellite areas and for the boat we have to stay overnight and travel back the next day. We could not make it back in one day.” This, he noted, often affected the work of the CPG since they could not reach more than one village a day since travelling took up most of the time.

Minister Ramjattan urged the members of the CPG to utilise the tools given for the purpose intended and to take care of them as they cost millions. The White-Water CPG was formed back in February 2018 and now comprises 17 members. They serve the community that is home to over 2,000 residents.

(DPI)