Saying that the rate of armed robberies is alarming, the PNCR today called on the government to implement immediate measures to raise pay so as to attract higher calibre recruits for the Guyana Police Force.
“The PNCR demands that the PPP/C Administration institute and implement measures to significantly improve the pay and conditions of service of the Police, so that the Force could attract the calibre and number of recruits that are needed to bring the Police Force up to its required establishment levels”, the party said in a statement.
It said it should be apparent to both the Administration and the leadership of the Guyana Police Force, that armed robberies on the coast “cannot be controlled without improving border security in the hinterland. Therefore, it is a matter of importance that there should be stricter border surveillance to staunch the influx of illegal weapons.”
The party said the public was jolted most recently by the brazen daylight armed robbery, which occurred on 16th November 2010, at the L & D Supermarket in Chateau Margot during which the owner was killed.
Noting the release of police statistics recently on armed robberies, the PNCR said that many of the firearms used were manufactured in Brazil, with which Guyana has a long, largely unmonitored border, and were brought into the country illegally.
The party said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Henry Greene, had earlier publicly admitted that the Police Force had failed to stop the gun runners “who are bringing weapons into this country and trading in weapons.”