Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee yesterday lashed out at former commissioner of police Winston Felix and APNU presidential candidate David Granger for their recent criticisms of the security sector and asked them to say what they did to transform the security sector while they were in public office.
Felix, who is now on the list of candidates for APNU, recently identified the shortage of manpower and the lack of resources as some of the common issues affecting the efficiency of the force. He also spoke of the importance of reforming the police force.
Rohee, at a PPP news briefing yesterday, expressed disappointment at Felix’s statements and questioned what efforts the former police commissioner had taken to address these issues when he held office.
The minister said the PPP/C government had poured financial resources into the force, noting that the budgetary allocations in the security sector rose from $589 million in 1992 to $4.5 billion in 2007. Felix eventually retired from the Police Force in 2007, Rohee noted. However, when questioned about the crime rate in 1992 to the crime rate now, Rohee said he did not have the statistics to provide an answer at the time.
Meanwhile, describing Granger as “the so called expert on security,” Rohee called on him to say what contribution he had made to national security when he served as advisor on national security. Granger has been a fervent critic of the government’s handling of security matters.
Rohee opined that Granger clearly feels secure in Guyana or else he would not have been campaigning to be president.
