These jackasses spent 45 billion but the nation continues to suffer from home invasions, car jackings and robberies. Jackass Granger considers this giveaway to PNC supporters in the security sector as money well spent.
$45B invested in security sector was well spent
…But we need more – Granger, Ramjattan
By Kiana Wilburg
In the space of two budgets, the security sector has received over $45B, and President David Granger and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan are convinced that the money has been put to good use.
President David Granger
Both agree however, that this crucial sector is in need of more resources.
During the recent taping of the programme, “The Public Interest,” Kaieteur News asked the Head of State to say if he is satisfied with how the billions invested into the sector have translated into crime fighting efforts.
Granger did not hesitate to state that he felt the allocations into the sector were “inadequate.” In fact, the President opined, “I would certainly like to have given the force more.”
The Head of State, who has written extensively on national security, emphasized that the Guyana Police Force needs assets, be it in the form of more horses and or all-terrain vehicles for wider patrols in the Rupununi area.
He noted that the Rupununi area is bigger than Costa Rica and is in need of more mounted police, since that is where some of the narco-trafficking is taking place. The President noted that the force is also in need of aircraft which could enable effective patrol of the nation’s borders.
Granger commented that generally, the Guyana Police Force needs to be brought up to strength.
“Regrettably, some police officers had to be dismissed for misbehaviour and to the extent that they are removed from their day to day duties. From November 15, you would have seen an increased deployment in police men and women… We are using the neighbourhood police in a more aggressive way for law enforcement…”
Overall, the President iterated that the money invested into the sector has been well spent but more is needed. At the same time, Granger emphasized that more is needed of the police force. For this reason, the President said that Government has asked the British Government to assist with security sector reform.
As for Minister Ramjattan, he is convinced that within the last 18 months, there has been significant progress in the area of improving security.
“If one were to ask if we have done better in terms of national security, then the answer would be a resounding yes. Indeed we have, because we are catching more criminals. There is a better community relationship with the police force and the crime statistics prove that we are lessening the number of serious crimes substantially as against the previous year by some 16 to 18 percent.”
Moreover, the Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) said that his Ministry as a result of the last two budgetary allocations was able to get a number of units working more efficiently, especially those dealing with statistics and the overall administration of the police force.
“Of course we have the embarrassing sight of the prisons, but that is because it is so heavily overpopulated. The allocations for the next year will have to ensure that we expand the Mazaruni Prison so that we don’t have an explosive situation in the Camp Street Prison again.”
The Public Security Minister said that the allocations for the improvement of the prisons are also tied to other factors.
Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan
“One of the things tied to that will be how fast we are going to get persons to have their cases heard in the court. But I understand that certain arrangements have been put in place to address this. This is in the form of the night court.”
The politician added, “But overall, we had to utilize the funding and the efforts of the ministry to get more rogue cops identified and charged and sent off by the Office of Professional Responsibility, the Commissioner himself and the court system.”
Ramjattan said that this is an essentially huge part of the Ministry’s work in rebuilding the trust needed at the community level so as to reassure citizens that they can feel comfortable and safe in their homeland.
“What we are doing, it is a far cry from what used to be done before, because the funds we are receiving, they are actually going to help secure communities and ensure that the country itself is safe. I wish to note too that piracy has gone to almost zero now. And a big effort and allocation from the ministry is ensuring that it is going to stay that way.”
Ramjattan said he is also pleased with the strides made in the areas of human trafficking and narco-trafficking. In the case of the latter, the Public Security Minister noted that there have been a number of major interdictions.
In the face of the Ministry’s achievements, the politician admitted that there is room for more proficiency and professionalism.
He said however, “It is a work in progress. We have as a government, three more budgets to go and I think we are going to get there. I would never be wholly satisfied. It will never be the ideal position. We are not going to reach the perfection stage but knowing the challenging circumstances from whence we came, I think we are doing the right things.”
Ramjattan is of the firm view that the Ministry of Public Security is heading in the right direction in transforming the sector and improving the ways in which it adopts more evidence based approaches to crime resolution.
“We have our hands on the correct buttons for crime solution. We are pressing some because we have the finances to do that and we are going to press some more for next year, based on what we receive in the 2017 budget,” Ramjattan said.
Finance Minister Winston Jordan had announced in his maiden budget that a whopping $21B would be allocated to the security sector to tackle the “most pressing and most depressing problem facing our nation today.”
Presenting the National Budget for the protracted financial year, Jordan outlined a number of proposals that would be the catalyst for an improved Police Force. He had said that the figure was $1.5B more than that what was allocated for the security sector in 2014 under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic government.
Out of the $21B, a sum of $11.9 billion was intended to support the operations of the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, Guyana Fire Service, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), while $9.1 billion had been budgeted for the Guyana Defence Force.
Those allocations, according to the Finance Minister, were to be used to improve the physical infrastructure, upgrade the security fleet, acquire tools and equipment, and upgrade the security features of the machine-readable passports.
The 2016 National Budget had proposed an allocation of $24.6B for the security sector towards its developmental and modernization programme.
Jordan, during his presentation of the $230B budget in the National Assembly, noted that government recognized that the sector needed boosting in order to fend off internal and external aggression.
The Finance Minister explained that security remains close to the Coalition Government’s heart.
“We committed unreservedly to implement policies to secure our citizens from the threat of national and transnational crime, violence and disorder,” said Minister Jordan.
