The tables were turned on Wednesday when former Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee pilloried his successor over crime and told the National Assembly that the APNU+AFC government had fallen short of all the promises made and initiatives created to improve public safety and security.
During a presentation on a motion he brought before the House on a matter of urgent public importance concerning the crime situation, Rohee said that the police’s continued publicising of statistics does not quell fears or convince the public that the situation is under control. He described the crime situation as a “disaster”.
The motion was merely brought for discussion and not for debate; as such it was not voted on. Rohee, who had been under siege by APNU and the AFC during the last parliament, in his motion asked for the Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan to immediately report to the House the measures that are going to be taken to bring the crime situation under control and bring about a safe and secure environment for citizens.
Rohee, against whom APNU and AFC MPs had succeeded in passing a controversial motion of no-confidence in the last parliament, said that during the budget debate the National Assembly was told of the resources that were to be made available to law enforcement agencies in order to boost their capacity to perform better and to deliver a quality service.
“Months later the situation remains basically the same. Meaning that there have been spikes from time to time particularly in respect of serious crimes”, he said.
Last week, the police released statistics which showed a 19% decrease in serious crimes for the first four months of the year as compared to the same period last year. Within the last few days there have been regular reports of crime leading to concerns that there is a real increase. There have been several home invasions in Berbice and gun robberies in Georgetown on businesspersons.
Rohee, also General Secretary of the PPP, told the House that statistics mean nothing to the vendors or the common man and woman. He said that the public looks at the quick response of law enforcement when a crime is being committed. He said that statistics must be approached with caution and in context, pointing out that this is the role of the civilian oversight body and not law enforcement.
Rohee made mention of serious crime and while singling out the recent casino robbery at the Ramada Princess on the East Bank, questioned what has become of the plan to place cameras around the city. In response Ramjattan shouted “it is coming”.
Rohee with the full support of his side of the House declared that it was taking too long to come.
“While it is coming people are dying Mr Ramjattan. So what are you doing”, he said before noting that questioning what the PPP/C did during its years in office will not solve the problem. “You are there now. Do your job…”, he shouted above the loud heckles and banging of tables during the late night exchanges.
He expressed the view that too much emphasis is being placed on crime detection and not prevention.
Last July, he said government informed about a draft crime fighting strategy following a spike in the crime. He noted that it was said that the strategy would be made public to give stakeholders an opportunity to contribute and thereafter laid in the National Assembly. He said that to date none of this has happened.
He also made mention of the government’s Operation Dragnet which he said has “been a total disaster…it is a horrible initiative”. He argued that it clearly has not yielded any results. He said that as government continues to talk and propose ideas, lives are being lost.
In his reply, Ramjattan, once a PPP colleague of Rohee, emphasised that the government is very concerned about the crime situation and is doing everything it can to deal with it.
”We are doing all that is possible, all that can be done in the circumstances and we are having tremendous results”, he said.
He opined that statistics are important as this will give government and by extension the Guyana Police Force a bird’s eye view of what is actually happening on the ground. Ramjattan later detailed some of the brutal crimes which occurred during the PPP/C’s 23-year reign pointing out that trust was very low when government took office in May last year but has since improved. “It is because of that trust being regained we have a huge number of members of the community coming forward with the evidence and the witness statements so that we can solve the crimes…you cannot deny today that we are in a far superior situation as it regards crime solving”, he said.
“You must appreciate it. Do not play political football with the statistics”, he told Rohee.
He provided the House with more statistics. He said that when compared to the same period last year five less murders have been recorded (55 compared with 50).
“It is not something to be proud of but it is five less”, he said pointing that there have been decreases in other serious crimes such as robbery under arms.
Ramjattan acknowledged that a lot of the crimes being committed are “inside jobs”. He said that this is one of the reasons that business people are being continuously urged to “go plastic” or use cheques instead of walking around with large amounts of cash. He said that he is not blaming the victims but was only trying to create something which would solve the problem.
Ramjattan told the House that government is working on improving police/community relations, increasing resources for the police, providing training in various areas and bringing the Force up to strength.
