PNCR Presidential Candidate David Granger yesterday said his party in government would ensure that citizens live in safety, while saying that the two armed robberies that occur every day under the current administration are unacceptable.
In an address on the Facing The Nation programme, broadcast on CNS TV Channel 6 yesterday, Granger declared that while the government is aware of the gun problem, it is following the wrong strategy to deal with the matter. “Instead of stopping the entry of guns into the country, it waits until the guns get into the hands of bandits and crimes are committed. By then it is too late,” Granger said, according to a copy of his statement released by the PNCR.
He acknowledged that his party is aware that of all the crimes, the most fearful is armed robbery. “The fact is that there are two armed robberies every single day somewhere in this country. Every week, two or three persons are killed, frequently with handguns.”
Granger contended that armed robberies affect every sector of society and he noted that private citizens, including fishermen, miners and even re-migrants have been attacked as well as homes, restaurants, gas stations, market stalls and supermarkets. “Why is the PPP/C administration allowing so many armed robberies to occur?” he queried.
According to Granger, a PNCR administration understands the responsibility to ensure public security and human safety.
He said in order to reduce crimes and make the lives of citizens safer, the party would ensure that the military presence on the borders is strengthened, out of recognition of the fact that Brazilian-manufactured small arms have been flowing into the country.
He added that it will also ensure that the police force will receive the resources to prevent gun running. “We shall ensure that ordinary citizens do not continue to suffer because of poor public security. We shall ensure that Guyanese can live in safety,” he declared.
The retired Guyana Defence Force Brigadier also recalled that Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee had told the Guyana Police Force Annual Officers’ Conference last month that Guyana had a murder rate of 18.5 per 100,000 of the population in 2010. “This is worse than the USA murder rate. Rohee admitted that gun crimes and gun-running have posed a challenge to this country,” Granger observed.
And Commissioner of Police Henry Greene has admitted that “most robberies are committed with guns” and that the availability of illegal guns was a major challenge for the force. He said further that there had also been an increase in the rental of illegal guns, most of which were used by bandits.
Head of the Police Criminal Investigation Department, Seelall Persaud, in a careful analysis, reported that there were over 500 armed robberies in 2009 and over 600 in 2010, Granger further noted. “Heaven knows what will happen in 2011,” he remarked.
According to Granger, it is public knowledge that the police force is under strength. Its weakest division – E&F – is both a major source of gun-running and the scene of many armed robberies. “Yet the PPP/C Administration has done nothing to deal with the force’s human resource deficiency and to reorganise the command and management of the hinterland, he said.
“The PPP/C Administration is busy establishing community policing groups, neighbourhood policing programmes and citizen security programmes, yet it must be aware that these agencies cannot solve the armed robbery problem,” he said, before declaring “This nation needs a PNCR Administration.”
