Dear Editor,
I find the statement from President Jagdeo very interesting, when asked about donor support in relation to crime, his reply was “They said they would help but what is their assistance? a USD$15,000 and an advisor,”. He insisted that the US, Britain and Canada would not send their troops here to assist this country in the crime fight. (SN, 28-01-08).
I expect the donor community to reply to this so that we can have a balanced account of what the true nature of the situation is, after all Jamaica and Trinidad have both had assistance from external security bodies.
Nevertheless, since 2002, it has always seemed surprising to me that these so called freedom fighters were venting their rage against innocent people who had nothing to do with their grievances. One would expect the freedom fighters would fight the system, that’s what freedom fighters do.
When we add Mr Jagdeo’s reluctance to accept the donor community’s assistance, it does seem to me that the PPP has something to hide. Is it that they are afraid to have external intelligence because they fear exposure of some kind? It surely cannot be that the PPP believe that the police and army are capable of protecting the nation.
No amount of asking people to remain calm and be tolerant will help, those people have feelings and emotions too. Would Mr Jagdeo remain calm if his family was slaughtered? People want assurance of security and they have no confidence in the security forces. It is time the PPP face the issues and stop throwing up smokescreens.
Let Mr Jagdeo make an open plea to the donor community for assistance so that all Guyana can see and hear, then lets’ see what will happen.
We know where the criminals are so what’s the problem? There are civilian casualties in any major seek and destroy operation and we must be prepared for this, but the nation cannot be slaughtered while we sit and wonder who next.
It is time to make some tough decisions so let’s get started.
Yours faithfully,
Vincent Ferreira
