Sixteen men and women were yesterday certified as Supremacy Constables with the authority to enact Guyana’s environmental and conservation laws.
Addressing the newly accredited officers, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman asked that they see themselves as part of the country’s security force, according to a release from the Department of Public Information (DPI) .
“You have been trained, empowered, sworn in as officers of the GPF (Guyana Police Force)…that carries with it a tremendous weight. You have the patrimony of the state in your hands, we speak of the biodiversity, we speak about the people, rivers, the waters, the mountains, the birds, the trees that is what you have been asked to do, to come alongside the Police and the Guyana Defence Force when necessary to lend support- you are not alone in yourself, you are adjoined to the security force of this country,” the minister said.
Trotman said that the project was initiated in 2016 by President David Granger, who believed that the nation needed a complement of officers to protect, preserve and conserve Guyana’s Natural resources. There are currently 41 wardens, DPI said.
Commissioner of Police (ag) David Ramnarine called on the officers to be cognisant of the difference between liberty and servitude. “One of the key things you need to understand also is that you have chosen to serve the public in some specific capacity so… that puts you on a higher footing. Members of the public should be looking up to you.”
The five-week training programme was a collaboration between the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Public Security, the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Parks Commission and the Wildlife Agency
It began on November 13, 2017, and covered topics such as ethics in law enforcement, custody of prisoners, use of force, ethics in law enforcement and occupational health and safety.
