Promising members of the security sector that the APNU+AFC coalition will soon be back in Government to deliver, the “good life”, Opposition Member of Parliament Geeta Chandan-Edmond yesterday called for the immediate establishment of an inter-ministerial committee on public security.
The inter-ministerial committee, she said will signal the recognition that public security needs multi-dimensional interventions in these “unprecedented times” of relentless high crime.
It should include the Ministers of Finance, Social Protection, Home Affairs and Agriculture among others.
“There must be acknowledgement that public security is not restricted to heavy-handed enforcement but involves a holistic approach…..Mr Speaker, you cannot achieve public security only with more guns, dogs, barbed wired fences, drones, helicopters and personnel,” Chandan-Edmond told the National Assembly during her presentation on the 2022 budget debate.
Chandan-Edmond said that public security in the age of an oil and gas economy has to be “reimagined” to reflect the “new found reality.”
“It cannot be limited to the same old, same old. The times are different. We are on the big stage and we all must recognise that this will not exempt us from security threats,” she said.
As a result, she argued that the country ought to modernize its security apparatus. “We must protect the nation’s emerging oil and gas industry from threats which have the potential to disrupt the value chains of the industry and thus the economic base of the country,” Chandan-Edmond stated.
She further warned that if the oil and gas economy does not result in “equitable” distribution of resources, this could spark social unrest and by extension, pose a major risk to the security of the country. “Mr Speaker, the literature on the subject is abundantly clear on the issue of security. It is much more than mere guns, uniforms and troops,” she added.
Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn who followed Chandan-Edmond reminded the House that there is a National Security Council in place. “They are committees at the top level of the Government which deal with the national security of the country,” he said.
Instead of making such a suggestion, Benn said he was expecting Chandan-Edmond should recommend APNU+AFC’s participation in issues of national security.
“….I want to say to the honourable member that the APNU was invited to join with us on the national commission of law and order and I hope that she would be there where we can discuss some of the issues she has concerns about in more intimate circumstances,” he explained.
Minutes before closing his presentation and being cautioned that he would need an extension to continue, Benn informed the National Assembly that the country has recorded a 20 percent reduction in serious crime.
Instances of fires, he said have also decreased by 30 percent while for the first time in 16 years, road deaths have significantly dropped.
Benn further related that “great efforts” were also made as it relates to the fight against narcotics trafficking, illegal firearms and cases before the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
Presently, he said there are 77 cases before SOCU totalling $75M which are up for referral to the courts and another $4.3 billion in respect of money laundering cases which will also be referred to the courts.
Politicization
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh last Wednesday presented the $552.9 billion budget in the National Assembly.
A sum of $47.9 billion has been allocated towards public safety and security.
Chandan-Edmond accused the Government of politicizing the Disciplined Services of the country.
She declared that all efforts to restore and preserve law and order in society will be “useless” if the government continues on its “destructive” path of “politicization” of the security services.
The structure of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Chandan-Edmond said has been “dashed” and “demoralized”. “The men and women in uniform have complained that their rank no longer matters. Junior ranks are refusing to heed instructions because they boast about having connections to the big politicos, ranks are being accused of having sympathies for the opposition and are being sidelined for this, professional officers are not seeing the point of furthering their studies or going beyond the call of duty, promotion is no longer based on merit and promotion is based on perceived loyalties,” she charged.
To this end, she said the “low morale” and political interference existing in the disciplined services must be fixed. “Allow the systems to work. End the political interference,” she urged.
“The members of the Guyana Police Force are demoralized and are crying for help…..The 120 million dollars allocated to ranks for training will enter the political fray and ranks will be selected based on loyalties and connections,” she argued.
While he did not directly respond to these claims, Benn said that it is the same members of the Opposition that speak about crime and “stealing the elections” that brought the most recent “disgrace” in the House.
“They talk about crime, they talk about their efforts to steal the elections. We had the most recent disgrace in this House….they stole the Mace, nearly decapitating the Speaker. And they did that not only here but they did it live, direct, virtual in the face of a national and international audience. To the disgrace of our country and here they can sit and skin teeth and catcall in this honourable House,” Benn admonished.
