Source - Guyana Chronicle

THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) yesterday sought to clear the air on the issue of “missing $90M” which was highlighted in a section of the media recently. The GPF said in the light of recent publications in the print media concerning an alleged “missing $90M” that was allocated to the GPF for the conduct of policing duties during the last general and regional elections, and which resulted from unofficial, unauthorized and misleading statements from a police divisional commander, the Guyana Police Force wishes to set the records straight.

A press release said that during 2011, the GPF prepared a budget of proposed activities for the general and regional elections 2011, which was submitted to the Ministry of Finance through the Ministry of Home Affairs. Subsequently supplementary provisions were received by the Police Force during November 2011, in the sum of $90,649,200.00.

It noted that of this amount, $39,641,200 was for the shortfall on voted provisions, and $51,008,000 was received under the line item 6261 – local travelling and subsistence – which also caters for the feeding of police ranks during the in-lying period for elections.

“The Force wishes to clarify that the sum allotted to the police for elections duties was $51,008.000, and not the total $90,649,200.

The release added that $8M was to facilitate the cost of travelling expenses, and the remaining $43,008,000.00 was brought to account by the police. A total sum of $32,491,822.00 was drawn out to Police Divisions, Police Headquarters, and Special Constabulary Headquarters to meet expenditure for the feeding of ranks.

The document stated that police divisions, Police Headquarters and the Special Constabulary Headquarters were allocated cash and commodities from the Police Consumers’ Cooperative Society Ltd and other outlets for the feeding of ranks.

The release said that Police Headquarters comprises all the branches of the Force, such as the Tactical Services Unit, CID Headquarters, the Felix Austin Police College, Immigration, Commissioner’s Office, General Office, Finance Office, the Police Band, and Quartermaster Stores. However, the Tactical Services Unit received a separate allocation for the elections period.

The following is a breakdown of how the monies were allocated:

Police Headquarters  -  $9,500,251.00
“A” Division          -     $8,526,676.00
“B” Division          -     $3,459,851.00
“C” Division          -     $2,299,465.00
“D” Division          -     $1,199,037.00
“E&F” Division       -    $1,696,888.00
“G” Division          -    $1,136,623.00
TSU                    -    $4,176,144.00
Special Constabulary - $  496,887.00

The remaining sum of $10,516,178.00 is still in the Force’s accounting system.

The GPF yesterday reiterated that monies received were allocated to the appropriate divisions and branches for the feeding of ranks and other policing activities during the elections, and that there was nothing sinister in the handling of the monies as suggested by the media.