According to a Guyana Chronicle news item in yesterday’s edition, miners Partebo Rosso and Michael Rodrigues are claiming that while Ramnarine was the commander of E&F Division, he demanded millions of dollars in bribes.
They were also quoted as saying that the matter was reported to the now dead former police commissioner Henry Greene but nothing was ever done.
Stabroek News was unable to make contact with the duo.
Contacted yesterday Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said that he was unaware of such a matter being under investigation by members of the force.
Ramnarine in an invited comment told this newspaper via telephone that after being informed of the article, he contacted the commissioner, the crime chief, the Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority and the head of the police Office of Professional Responsibility and “all have indicated personally that they are not in receipt of any allegation whether orally or in writing to that effect.
He said that “when God blesses someone, he confronts them with an enemy. Ramnarine who is now based at police headquarters, Eve Leary said that at the moment he is seeking legal advice on the issue.
Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association President, Patrick Harding when contacted said that he was unaware of such allegations being levelled against Ramnarine. He noted though that the Association has received complaints of corrupt practices by ranks stationed in the E&F Division. He said that in such circumstances the usual procedure would be for the miner/s to make a report to the Division.
In this present matter, Harding said that the Association would not get involved.
He also noted that the names of the two miners listed in the Guyana Chronicle article were not familiar to him.
Stabroek News spoke to several others in the mining community and they, too, were not familiar with the two miners.
Meanwhile, a senior police official said that there have been accusations against Ramnarine by miners but nothing was ever done. The official said that Greene was informed of the situation but no effort was made to investigate.
Ramnarine and Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had public exchanges this year over the provision of funds for ranks during the election period last year, with the former commander later saying he was being victimized for going public about the situation. Rohee later urged acting Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell to discipline Ramnarine for his comments, accusing him of breaching the Guyana Police Force’s Standing Orders by making the information public. However, Ramnarine said that he spoke out because of concern over the welfare of the ranks and argued that the Standings Orders do not supersede his fundamental right to freedom of expression. He was later stripped of his divisional commander responsibilities.
A special audit has cleared the Guyana Police Force of misusing contingency allocations for the elections period totalling $90.649 million although record keeping breaches were found and some of the money that was not utilized was only paid back after concerns about spending were publicized.
