Dear Editor,
The past week has been a relatively disappointing one for representatives of the security sector at the national and regional levels.
Just before the commencement of the 40th Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in St. Lucia, and just after its conclusion, law enforcement agencies across the region, but more particularly in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, were grappling with serious security problems within their respective jurisdictions.
In Trinidad and Tobago the business community was up in arms with the Minister of National Security and the Commissioner of Police over what they described as, “The freeness with which persons are able to kill in broad daylight, without fear of being apprehended.”
Meanwhile, in Jamaica, a shake up in the high command of the Jamaica Police Force was announced.
With 675 murders across the island beginning from January 2019, four more than the 671 over the corresponding period in 2018, murders amounted to almost four per day with gun crimes being the most prevalent.
In the wake of this troubling situation, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, on his return from St. Lucia acted swiftly. He declared a state of emergency in the Police Division of St. Andrew South where, according to the Prime Minister, “The main cause of death was caused by gangs.”
Similar states of emergency exist in three western parishes of Jamaica, namely: Westmoreland, Hanover and St. James. St. Andrews South was the fourth parish to be so declared.
Over in Guyana law enforcement agencies were experiencing their share of challenges.
In the midst of celebrations marking 180 years of the Guyana Police Force and the claim that the Force is surmounting its challenges, the narrative seemed to point in a different direction.
A Deputy Commissioner and Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force was sent on administrative leave to make way for an investigation into allegations of misconduct and corruption against him.
The Head of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) of the GPF was sent on administrative leave following publication of an audit report implicating him in a series wrongdoings. Unconfirmed reports claim that it is unlikely his contract will be renewed.
A prominent gay rights activist was physically assaulted and a nurse employed with the Ministry of Public Health was found hanging in her room at the nurse’s quarters where she lived while a young man was found dead in the lockups of a police station on the Essequibo Coast.
And as though this was not enough, a member of the Presidential Guard was found unconscious lying on a city roadway with head injuries.
Later in the same week, an ex-police rank was arrested after being found in possession of over 200 lbs. of marijuana.
But there were much bigger issues on hand for the police to address. These included allegations of government turning a blind eye to a people-smuggling ring in which police ranks were allegedly involved.
And Roger Khan’s much anticipated release from incarceration and deportation to Guyana from the USA has been met with mostly silence on the part of government and the police.
A tour d’horizon across the CARICOM region would show that fundamentally, the challenges to law enforcement in each jurisdiction have a lot in common.
It was for this reason, and the perennial recurrence of crime and security challenges that the twin social phenomenon continue to feature prominently on the agenda of the meeting of Caricom Heads.
Growing concerns by Heads of Government over the increasing challenges and potentially destabilizing effects of crime and security gave rise to the convening of several special ministerial meetings of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) and summits of Heads of Government to address the problem.
The creation of the Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) and the Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre (RIFC), among other regional security initiatives, were steps in the right direction.
However, failure by some member states to contribute financially, particularly to IMPACS, largely viewed by some Heads as a waste of money, resulted in the undermining of IMPACS’ mandate and, in many instances, the under-utilization of its staff of highly qualified, experienced and technically capable officers.
One member state’s representative went as far as to openly inform his colleagues at a meeting of Heads that his country got better results working with Scotland Yard and the FBI than working with IMPACS to address national security matters.
Further, it is to be recalled that the former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago had advised her colleague Heads that her country would no longer be an ‘ATM’ to finance regional security projects outside of what was provided for under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and other bilateral agreements with friendly governments and external agencies.
And recently we learnt from press reports that serious disagreements among Heads surfaced at the St. Lucia meeting as regards payment of annual contributions to IMPACS with governments coming under pressure to pay up their annual contributions while others are in arrears of their payments.
The St. Lucia Heads of Government meeting ended like a damp squib in so far as regional security matters are concerned.
The signing of protocols amending the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to incorporate CONSLE as an organ of the Community and IMPACS as an institution of the Community was long overdue.
And the wording in the Communique issued at the end of the summit was lukewarm on crime and security since all the Heads did was to ‘agree to continue to strengthen the regional security architecture both at the institutional and personnel levels while acknowledging the role of and need to engage with international partners to this end.’
Undoubtedly, much more in this particular agenda item would have been discussed behind closed doors and in caucus that cannot be publicly disclosed, but the point that needs to be emphasized is that be that as it may, a Government of Guyana delegation attended the conference on behalf of all the people of Guyana yet there has been no report back to the nation as regards the outcome and benefits of the conference to Guyanese people.
The nation remains in the dark!
Yours faithfully,
Clement Rohee.
Former Minister of Home Affairs
