Dear Editor,
A mother cried for her dead son and a wife sobbed as her husband took his last breath. They both were responding to violent crimes and murders which are being committed with frequency in this country. Women, children, and the elderly are among the victims and the government, especially the Minister of Home Affairs seems incapable of acting to protect innocent and law-abiding citizens.
Meanwhile, the President is also bent on turning his back on the citizens despite numerous calls by the majority opposition and stakeholders to end the criminalization of the country. After 22 years in power, the feeble PPP regime has done absolutely nothing to reduce the crimes perpetrated on innocent citizens. It is for this reason that many people are calling it quits and are migrating to the Caribbean and North America in droves for a better and safer lifestyle.
And while there is good reason to suggest that they are not turning their backs on their beloved country for good, one cannot help but think that Guyana under the current regime has become a criminal-narcotics state and hence an unsafe nation.
Therefore, it is no secret that because of the spectre of crime and the lack of job opportunities, migration has become a most attractive proposition.
Guyana is deemed one of the more violent countries in the Caribbean. Some argue that it has to do with the return of hundreds of deportees, most of whom were involved in acts of extreme violence in their adopted countries. Others point to the poor socio-economic conditions that a large section of the population have to live under which have led them to a point of hopelessness and anger.
Whatever the real causes for these criminal acts, most Guyanese feel that the blame should be placed squarely on the ruling clique which for the past ten years has done little or nothing to effectively reduce crime and protect the citizens. It is not only that the Minister of Home Affairs lacks the ability to deal with crime, it is way above his head.
We are deeply convinced that the role of government is to protect and safeguard the lives of every citizen in Guyana, not only the rich and powerful who can afford huge security details. Interestingly, the PPP has now been 21 years in office but regrettably crime continues to escalate at a rapid pace. We are saying loud and clear that the regime’s mission to reduce crimes as promised has not been accomplished. In fact, there are more robberies, theft, corruption, rapes, domestic violence and murders in Guyana than in any previous time.
A people that lives in fear cannot be productive. The fight against crime needs more than putting criminals in jail. It needs pre-emptive intervention on the part of the government at the local, regional and national levels. In other words, a holistic approach is the way forward for the government to save this nation.
The PPP regime has so far failed to deal effectively with the scourge of crime, because they micro-manage a police force that is in desperate need of reform, better wages, vehicles, and other equipment. Is it any wonder that the incompetent Minister of Home Affairs has been pilloried constantly for not getting the job done? And is it any wonder that the police have become so frustrated that alleged drug and robbery killings have become the order of the day?
No country can attract foreign investors or grow its way out of its economic problems if the productive sector comprises mainly persons who continue to wallow in a state of perpetual poverty. The government should know that the people have to survive and if there are no opportunities for them to do so, then they will resort to acts of criminality. Interference by the Minister has made the Police Force an unprofessional body. Their motto ‘To serve and protect’ should be changed to ‘To indulge and collect.’
The time has come for this corrupt and inept PPP regime to get serious about the security of the people, and we mean really serious. If the regime is to sufficiently weed out crimes from the society, it has to start disciplining corrupt officials. This means that the president must provide honest and meaningful leadership.
Having a professional police force must take priority. For too long, the PPP administration has only paid lip service to the security sector, even as the killing of innocent citizens continues. This should not be tolerated by the people, for it also represents the ineptitude of this uncaring group whose primary goal is to maintain power at all costs. Their priority is not to reduce crime or protect the people.
Yours faithfully,
Asquith Rose
Harish S Singh
