Stressing the importance of the nation’s army reserve, President David Granger yesterday said that the re-established Guyana People’s Militia will be deployed to all ten regions in the country to strengthen territorial integrity and national security.
“The deployment of reservists to every region will ensure that the GDF can readily and rapidly respond to any threat which may occur at anytime, anywhere in Guyana,” Granger said in his address at the opening of the Guyana Defence Force’s annual Officers Conference, held yesterday at Base Camp Ayanganna.
Granger said the strength of the GDF was not going to be increased above its present establishment levels but it would be supported by a stronger reserve force.
He noted that Guyana’s borders are “too extensive, its landscape is too expansive and the cost of maintaining large regular units too expensive.” At the same time, he said the coastal surveillance of the territory demands that the force have a physical presence in each administrative region, not only of regular units but also of part-time forces. “…The reserve force will support and supplement the regular force. Reservists must be deployed in every region to ensure that Guyana’s defence is total and comprehensive, covering our borders our sea space, our airspace and our land. Reservists will be the force’s eyes and ears. Reservists will constitute a sort of army of the people protecting our communities and making the residents safe,” he added.
Shortly after entering office last year, Granger had signaled that the militia would be resuscitated.
He had explained that the Guyana’s People’s Militia was created in 1976 as a semi-autonomous body. However, after the People’s Progressive Party came into an office in 1992, the name was changed and the militia was subordinated to the regular force as an infantry battalion. After this subordination, the numbers within the force declined to one tenth of what it was.
In January of this year, the army announced the official re-establishment of the militia and informed that some 1500 persons countrywide would be enlisted. Army Colonel Patrick West was named to head the reserve and during the recent national budget debates the nation was told this year that funding for the body would come from the GDF’s budgetary allocations.
Collective security
Granger also told army officers yesterday that the regular force and the reserve force must always be in a state of operational readiness to be deployed to any part of the country and also to fulfill any commitments here and in the Caribbean.
“Guyana’s national defence strategy, therefore, officers, seeks to preserve peace and security… [it] aims at a system of collective security. We are not alone, we are part of the Caribbean community and this is what should guide the Guyana Defence Force and determine its mission over the next four years. Our strategy must combine military defence with our statecraft, with our diplomacy,” he stated.
And even as he reiterated that Guyana would defend its territorial integrity and would continue to lobby global support, especially from its sister Caricom states, he stressed that it is also committed to non-aggression and seeking peace so that its natural resources can be channeled to foster a good life for its people. It is against this background that the President pointed out that diplomacy will continue to be an integral part of Guyana’s arsenal and defence strategy and that Guyana stands ready with Caricom to, as one body, defend all nations in the community. “Guyana’s National Defence Strategy, therefore, over the next four years, must acknowledge the need to take steps in concert with our regional partners to address security threats facing the Caribbean. Guyana must be a reliable partner in the calls for regional security and ensuring the Caribbean remains a zone of peace,” he said. “The philosophy steering Guyana’s National Defence Strategy, therefore, must reflect a long-term thinking process to respond to the multiple crisis facing the country, the Caribbean community and the continent… our strategy must emphasise that Guyana is a national power but within the framework of regional interests. It must ensure that national defence is preserved, our sovereignty is secured and our territorial integrity is guaranteed,” the President added.
