Dear Editor,
GT&T expresses our appreciation to be afforded an opportunity to respond to Captain Gerry Gouveia’s email, which has been circulated in the public domain, captioned ‘GTT must fix the 911 system.’ Whilst we are not privy to the time, date nor location associated with Mr Gouveia’s reported investigations on behalf of the PSC, none of which were cited in his communique, we presume the following:
• That Mr Gouveia’s visit was at Brickdam Police Station.
• That Mr Gouveia’s visit and investigation did not occur in 2014. The Guyana Police Force officially requested in March 2006 that there be 4 dedicated lines for 911 at Brickdam, hence Mr Gouveia’s claim of 6 lines for 911 is not based on current reality at the Brickdam Police Station.
GT&T is of the view that this matter ref 911 must be dealt with based on principles of professionalism, intellectual honesty and facts. Consequently, we wish to advise that and reiterate the following:
1. There are currently 4 dedicated lines for the 911 service at Brickdam Police Station – all are working.
2. There are no current fault reports associated with the 911 lines at Brickdam. As we have indicated, all emergency numbers: 911, 912 and 913 are tested weekly across the country and when faults are detected, GT&T treats same as a matter of priority.
3. This is without prejudice to the fact that any non-working service that occurs between periods of routine testing by GT&T at any police facility is reported via established communications’ and operating protocols and is immediately flagged as priority by GT&T.
4. There are no such reports currently nor are there any verifiable/substantiated reports emanating from the Guyana Police Force of fault reports year to date of “intermittent” faults associated with public voice access to the 4 – 911 lines at Brickdam Police Station.
We trust that the above clarifies the issue. We will not be responding to any further missives from Captain Gouveia on this subject since we believe that the public interest is best served by GT&T continuing to professionally cooperate with the relevant competent authorities at the appropriate forums with regards to initiatives associated with improving the 911 and indeed the entire first responders’ infrastructure, and not engaging in such exchanges in the media. We restate this commitment for the record.
Yours faithfully,
Russell DavisDirector,
Technical Operations & Planning
Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company, Ltd
