A statement from the Private Sector Commission follows:
We have called this Press Conference today to express what we believe is a deeply felt national concern of every citizen over the inability of the State to generally protect our citizens from widespread gun inspired crime threatening their wellbeing and safety.
We believe that each and every one of our ordinary citizens feel threatened, regardless of where they happen to be, whether in the street, their workplace or in their homes, are under threat each day from violent gun related crime.
Two weeks ago, on 12th October, the Commission, through its Sub-Committee on Security, and led by Major General (Retd) Norman McLean, met with the Minister of Public Security, Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan, to express our concern.
We were told that, in fact, according to the reported crime statistics, there has been a 16% reduction in serious crime this year compared with last. He confirmed, however, that criminal access to guns coming in to Guyana, mainly from Brazil, is an increasing threat and remains a challenge because of the extent of our borders. He noted that the Police Force remain understaffed by some 1,000 and more personnel.
He said, for which we congratulate him, that the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP), with funding of just under US$3M, targeting 20 high crime areas is contributing to the reduction of crime.
We emphasized, however, that the 911 national emergency call system, essential for a citizen under criminal threat to be able to request a police response, is simply not functioning.
The PSC, since 2010, has held meetings with the police, telephone companies and the political directorate, at the highest possible level, in an effort to have this system fixed and functional and we are appalled at successive governments’ failure to do so.
In fact, at the Commission’s urging in 2015, the then Ministry of Home Affairs convened a panel of communications specialists to address the problem and a comprehensive report with specific recommendations was submitted to government. However, to date, these recommendations have not been implemented. The country, therefore, remains without an essential police emergency response system available to its citizens.
Given this growing concern among the population about their safety, the PSC wishes to urge the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Police Force to consider the following:
To acknowledge publicly that we have a problem with crime in Guyana, it is the only way can start to address the issue once all parties can acknowledge that a problem persists and start demanding collaboration across the board.
We encourage the President of Guyana, the Government Ministers and all stakeholders to send a strong signal to criminals that crime will no longer be tolerated.
We would like to encourage all stakeholders, including the Government, police, judiciary and civil society to review the sentencing of persons charged with armed and violent robberies, to ensure that these charges are not subject to bail and that they are subject to appropriate sentencing which should be handed down by all magistrates. In this light, we believe a collaborative approach is needed.
We would like to see the President of Guyana and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to publicly give the orders for our men and women in uniform to bring some order and control with respect to these criminal gangs and individuals terrorizing the Guyanese community.
While we commend the Minister and the Commissioner of Police for the recent reduction in serious crime, our country, nevertheless, remains unprotected from guns flowing across our borders into the hands of violent criminals virtually without restraint.
Our country remains with a Police Force which is inadequately staffed, insufficiently trained and underequipped to meet the challenge.
Our citizens are traumatized by fear of almost every day having a gun pointed at them with criminal intent. Our businesses, our banks, our tourism industry and our everyday lives are under threat. This is not the good life. It is time that our President intervene.
Major General (retired) Norman McLean, the Vice Chairman of our Security Committee, will present the specifics of our concerns and recommendations which we have continued to make to the Minister.
