Dear Editor,
This letter, in no way, seeks to question the good intentions of the President when he announced that his Government will be seeking the help of UK experts to help solve the heinous murder of the young men in West Coast Berbice, that occurred in the Cotton Tree, No.3 – No.4 areas.
There are some worrisome aspects of this proposal.
First, it displays a lack of confidence in our Guyanese law enforcement and crime-cracking personnel, fifty-four years after becoming independent and fifty years after being a Republic.
We have available competent Police Officers, active and some retired, who given a free-hand and no interference, are capable of doing a good job.
This expression of ‘no confidence’ in our Police Force is not good at a time when there is an environment of distrust in sections of our security forces.
Such an initiative reminds us of the time when efforts were made to impose a foreign Police Officer in a command position of the Police Force.
What I would like to hear from the President, is a sincere undertaking that no one in the administration would be allowed in any way to interfere with the investigations.
We’ve had experience, in an earlier era when citizens lost confidence in certain sections of the Police Force to act professionally.
Second, if the request for overseas help is granted, how long will it take for the personnel and their accoutrements to arrive in Guyana?
Further, I know of instances where overseas experts experienced difficulty even understanding our local dialect.
Next, has the murder scene and contiguous areas been completely sealed off?
Necessary, whether true or false, there is the perception that this may be a race – politically inspired hate crime.
I have lived through the worst days of the 60s and urge that let the good, competent and professional Police Officers be allowed to complete their investigations without anyone compromising the evidence and scientific data.
In an earlier letter, I reminded Guyanese that peaceful protest is lawful and has been part of democracies everywhere.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
