Dear Editor,
With reference to your editorial ‘Saving Mr Rohee’ (October 23, 2012), Mr Clement Rohee should not be singled out and castigated for dereliction of duty, incompetence and so on. It is indeed very unfair.
There has been a policy of not rocking the boat of the police and armed forces in general which was initiated by the late President Dr C B Jagan in1992 when he won the general elections. His declaration of no witch hunting, no recriminations, should have been followed by a stern warning to cease all excesses and wrongdoing in general which were prevalent then. By not placing a condition on forgiveness, lawlessness multiplied in every sphere, notably the police force that seems to have been converted into a corruption free for all.
There is also the ethnic fear on the part of the PPP about the armed forces being predominantly African Guyanese, hence the propensity to pamper and allow unprofessional behaviour to flourish. It is not a Rohee lapse and his incompetence, but a PPP policy. Any no confidence motion should be aimed at the government not only for crime alone, but for the abundance of negative and corrupt governance.
Mr Rohee however should be blamed for not stamping his authority on and reining in the less troubling noise nuisance problem, bribery associated with traffic officers and other blowing-out-of-proportion petty offences, that have officers taking advantage of citizens. These are matters that would not influence the upper echelons, but manageable laws should be enforced.
Complaints to any PPP officials of the police taking advantage in matters are quickly rebuffed with, “The police doing their work, we cannot interfere.” Unlike during the PNC era swift and decisive action was taken when reports were made to PNC officials of police harassment. The late Presidents Burnham and Hoyte had no reason to fear the armed forces and could have demanded they respect professionalism and dignity unless something was sanctioned for the sake of political expediency.
The PPP camp lives in fear and exposes their supporters and citizens as a whole to police excesses, not wanting to have a confrontation. Balancing the forces may help, but the PPP has good reasons for not doing so and explains it by Indian dislike of the forces, which is obviously not true. Mr Rohee is abiding by party policy and cannot show dissent or he would end up like Moses Nagamootoo or Khemraj Ramjattan. The police are compromised, not condemned by the PPP. Pampering the armed forces which cause Indians unease is more advantageous than balancing the forces ethnically, hence Indians are doomed under the PPP government. Please leave Rohee alone and slate the PPP.
Yours faithfully,
M Sookraj
