– as police destroy old arms
Guyana will strengthen the control of its porous borders and increase security cooperation with its neighbours to help curb the distribution and use of small arms by criminal networks here, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said yesterday as the police destroyed old and outdated firearms.
Rohee’s comments came against the background that both Brazil and Venezuela, countries with which Guyana shares vast, mostly unmanned borders are small arms manufacturers. It has long been surmised that much of the arms and ammunition proliferating in the country at present would have been smuggled through these borders.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene (left) and Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee (second from left) observing the destruction of the weapons.
Addressing those gathered to witness the destruction of the obsolete firearms at the Police Officers Mess, Eve Leary, Georgetown, Rohee said, “The proportion of homicides committed with a handgun is still relatively high and we need to constantly keep working to bring it down.”
He said government was also moving aggressively to transform the security architecture of the country, a process that has been making an impact on criminality and the criminal underworld.
He noted that small arms control continued to be high on the international agenda and more attention was being paid to the demand reduction aspects of small arms violence.
Quoting local statistics, Rohee said that handguns account for more than 38% of homicides, while shotguns account for 6.5%. He added that only 3.2 per cent of homicides were committed with the use of rifles and other weapons accounted for a similar amount.
According to the minister, in ‘A’ Division, 48.9% of the 279 occurrences involved the use of a firearm. However, he said, law enforcement has also had its successes, finding and seizing illegal firearms on a regular basis.
He revealed that between June and September last year, 104 firearms were seized while for the same period this year, 107 have been seized and that ‘A’ and ‘E & F’ divisions recovered the most. Pointing to the recent weapons find by the joint services on Regent Street, he said it was an indication that the law enforcement agencies have neither given up nor become complacent.
Officers of the Guyana Police Force looked on as some of the old weapons were being disassembled and destroyed yesterday.
Rohee said those who live and work in the criminal world were already feeling the impact of the work being done as the law enforcement agencies and the joint services were “dealing blow after blow to the criminals and their organizations in Guyana”.
He said efforts which began since in 1993 with the passage of 23 pieces of anti-crime legislation, with four more yet to come, were all part of the transformation in the anti-crime architecture of the country. The minister also promised a heightening of the implementation process of the Citizen’s Security Programme in another six months. He said the programme would bring about a “sea change” in all the law enforcement agencies and their respective technological and human resource capacities. “To all those who are interested I advise you to stay tuned,” Rohee advised.
He also urged that persons ignore the attention still being paid to “those who seem sorry to know that the ‘Fineman’ gang is now virtually decimated.” The minister said that some 30 of the gang members were incarcerated and awaiting trial, 11 dangerous criminals have since been killed in shoot-outs with the joint services and the rest are being “hounded down day and night”.
He said that the network the gang had established was slowly but surely being dismantled. He acknowledged that there were still challenges and that government, “don’t believe in burying our heads in the sand and to pretend that with Fineman’s demise it is now easy sailing. On the contrary, the struggle, the struggle continues. The storm may be over but the sea is still rough. That’s why we have to remain tough.”
Rohee also pointed out that Guyana has since taken the necessary step to establish a task force on narcotics and illicit weapons, which he said was in fulfilment of the United Nations programme of action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. He expressed his hope that Guyana would soon endorse the Geneva Declaration and Programme of action on armed violence and development. The declaration represents an important new process, which addresses demand reduction concerns of developing countries who are not manufacturers of such weapons, Rohee said.
Oh come on Rohee don’t you have better things to do with your time.Is that an exercise for you to be involved with?
Is this another “smoke and mirrors” contrived picture of “illegal weapons” being destroyed? Those guns with rotted stocks and rusted barrels look very much like some of the hundreds stored in the Arms Room below the TSU barracks since the late 1960’s. The poor fellow squatting to use that DeWalt chop saw to cut up the gun barrels had better mount that power tool on a bench if he wants to keep all his fingers.
What a waste of time by the Guyanese Home Affairs Minister and the Commissioner of Police…. When the “Fire Sticks” (as the Natives would have called them in those days) could have been sent to the GNEC’s CEO Clinton Williams to convert them (using the Electric Furnaces put in place by the L.F.S Burnham Administration) to make some high quality “agricultural products” (tools) in quick time. (it is called turning your “weapons” into “plough shears”. ;-) What do you say Mr. Minister with responsibility for “Scrap Metals”.?
It’s about time the gpf get rid of the old and oudated weopons and bring in modern weoponary, because the criminals have the more sophisticated ones. It’s good to know that guyana’s border is given much attention hope the have the manpower and equipment to carry that out.
Old outdated gun huh??? Hmmm I wonder if these old outdated guns have an expiry date where they will evaporate after expiry…….ehehehehehehehehheeh..
…..the gpf into the scrap business now……ag green should reintroduce pe for all police officer…..look at this man stomach……..what example is he setting toothe cops……
the stomach comes from sitting at desk all day lone doing absolutly NOTHING.,
he living good my friend, u remember the song by admiral bailey big belly man dem a money man. lol
Why wasn’t this appropriately put in the “Joke od the Day” section???
less talk rohee and more actions that is all these politicians do in guyana is
talk talk talk and then their blind supporters jump up in the air clapping their
hands and putting garlands around the necks of these useless politicians,
just look at them destroying all those old rusty guns , what about the high power weapons they confiscated from all those murders and robberies and gang
members ? when will we see those weaponry destroyed mr. rohee?
look at the police officer like clint eastwood guarding them old arms, is that
for a photo opt.??
AND THE BEAT GOES ON,WHAT A PLACE TO B,GT NICE IT NICE,TOO NICE.
gross crap, the home affairs minister standing watching guns being distroyed , nothing else better to do, so i’ll just come stand up and see them distroy them guns , don’t want any one of them staching any in their pockets?????????