Following a visit on Saturday, Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee said the East La Penitence Police Station and others were in need of radical improvement.

He said that Rural Constables (RCs) can also be of significant help taking into consideration the April 29 attack on the East la Penitence police station by gunmen.

Rohee visited the East La Penitence, Kitty, Alberttown and Brickdam police stations and inspected the stations’ water, lavatory and general sanitation facilities. During his inspection, the minister “expressed his dissatisfaction over the state of the stations’ infrastructure”, a Government Information Agency (GINA) release said.

Further, the minister said that some of the stations will be vastly improved along with the station “lock-ups”, particularly Brickdam’s. However, it was pointed out that these improvements will take time. The current strength of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is 2552 while the establishment is 3570, GINA said. As a result, the administration has urged increased establishment of Community Policing Groups with Rural Constables (RCs) to assist the GPF.

In this year’s budget $13.7 billion was allocated to improve the security and defence sectors. Rohee said that in order to achieve a greater degree of efficiency and professionalism all areas including human resources and the enhancement of infrastructure must be addressed.