Civilians identified to oversee police strategic plan, says Home Ministry

The 10 civilians who will serve on the Strategic Management Department (SMD) of the Guyana Police Force have been selected and their names are to be announced shortly, the Ministry of Home Affairs said yesterday.

The ten civilian professionals are expected to work with the force to implement the Strategic Plan for its operational and administrative reform.

According to a statement from the Home Ministry yesterday, 49 applications were received covering all ten advertised positions. The positions are: Head of the Strategic Management Department; Team Leader; Strategic Planning Officer; Change Facilitation Officer; Change Communication Officer; Project Coordinator; Coordinator Monitoring & Evaluation; Risk Manage-ment Officer; Analyst; and Research Officer.

Joe Singh
Joe Singh

An interviewing panel, headed by Major General (Ret’d) Joe Singh, commenced interviews on March 9 and completed the initial evaluation process on March 16.

On March 25, Singh, in the presence of members of the panel, handed over copies of the report and the recommendations of the panel to Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee.

“The names recommended by the Panel and accepted by the Government of Guyana will be published shortly,” the ministry said.

The purpose of the panel was to interview, evaluate and recommend persons suitably qualified to fill the ten positions, which were advertised in January last by the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Other than Singh the other members of the panel were: Professor of the University of Guyana Al Creighton; Ronald Webster, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC); Cpt. Gerald Gouveia, a member of the PSC; Crime Chief Seelall Persaud; Andrew Grant, Principal Personnel Officer, Public Service Ministry; Candace Elias, Treaty Officer, Ministry of Home Affairs; and Joan Craigen, Executive Assistant, Citizen Security Programme.

The Strategic Management Department was one of a raft of reforms that Rohee announced at the end of last year.

A UK consultancy has been retained to help guide the Security Sector Strategic Plan, which critics have said is many years overdue.