PPP blasts Government for perceived crime fighting lapse
July 9, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under News, Source
Former President Donald Ramotar has blasted A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Chance (APNU+AFC) for only now holding the crime fighting strategy meeting, stating that the Party should have already formulated a strategy, in light of its campaign promises.
This came out during People’s Progressive Party (PPP) press conference at Freedom house, yesterday, during which the former Head of State, Donald Ramotar, criticised the government’s approach to the upsurge in crime.
“When the APNU+AFC were in opposition, they claimed to have a superior plan than ours to fight crime and they lambasted us,” he said.
According to Ramotar, the then opposition had also “boasted” about its “army credentials” using former Military personnel who, he claimed, now dominated Government.
“They claimed to have all the answers for the crime situation, but now we see a real upsurge and spike in crime.”
He expressed “shock” upon hearing that the President was having a meeting to address the crime surge and work out a strategy.
“What does that mean? Were they lying to the Guyanese people in their manifesto? Were they lying about all their plans?” Ramotar queried.
“Every single day we see violent crime escalating in our society and the government is only now drafting a plan to deal with the situation.”
Statistics compiled by Kaieteur News for the first six months and six days of this year, show that there have been at least 80 murders during this period. Twenty-eight of the victims were shot dead, and of this number, 14 appeared to be clear-cut execution-style killings. Many of these cases remain unsolved.
The police and the new Administration have come in for criticism for the recent rise in violent crime, even though statistics released by the Force and compiled by Kaieteur News indicate that crime was on the rise from the beginning of this year.
Aside from murders committed by robbers and execution-style killings, disputes and ‘crimes of passion’ accounted for most of the homicides.
Fifteen women have been slain for the year, including four young females aged 19, 18, 17 and 14, and three elderly women aged 73, 67 and 68. Of this number, six were killed during confrontations with male associates; three (including two of the senior citizens), were slain during home invasions, two were found battered in remote areas; one was the victim of an execution-style murder, one died from burns after her home was set alight, one was allegedly stabbed to death by a female friend.
One of the elderly women is believed to have been slain by persons who tried to make it appear as if she was a rape/robbery victim.
More recently, East Canje businesswoman, Angela Hussain, 41, was shot in the head during a home invasion on Monday evening. So far, the police have detained several persons as investigations continue.
On Saturday evening popular businessman and owner of the Regent Multiplex Mall, Ganesh Ramlall, was shot multiple times in an apparent robbery attempt. So far, investigators have made no breakthroughs into the case.
Government has since announced a comprehensive plan to combat crime, including the use of CCTV cameras, as well as canine units and mounted patrols.
