The Joint Services have slammed a Kaieteur News article which criticized the operations of the Joint Special Operations Group (JSOG) and levelled allegations of drug use against some of its members.
The servicemen in a statement yesterday said the article of April 1 was “riddled with spurious assertions, conveniently attributed to ubiquitous sources…” Contacted for a comment on the statement yesterday, Kaieteur News Editor Adam Harris said the newspaper stood by the article, which commented also on the lack of progress by the unit to date in hunting down the perpetrators of the two recent massacres.
In the article, the newspaper quoted what it said was a source close to the unit as saying that except for the arrests of a few drug addicts, the unit has since not done anything significant to justify its existence. According to the article too, security at the base had been compromised with a number of women frequently visiting. The article said a female assistant commissioner who occupies a flat close to the base was forced to chase away a number of women who had converged to meet JSOG members.
The newspaper also said that there has been drug use among the unit’s members, with one being caught smoking marijuana. It added that four others tested positive for drug use and have been replaced.
The Joint Services statement yesterday denied those assertions, as well as those that the JSOG members performed taxi duties, since they had so little to do. The statement said the assertions were “patently false and have no basis in fact.
“There is absolutely no truth that four of the JSOG members have been tested positive for drugs,” the statement said.
The Joint Services said that in the early stages of the formation of the group, one member had tested positive for drugs and has been condignly disciplined.
The statement also termed “erroneous”, the newspaper’s claim of a female officer chasing women from the JSOG location.
It said Assistant Commissioner Paulette Morrison, who lives in an adjacent building flat, denies the allegation.
“The Joint Services consider these comments irresponsible and unmistakably designed to stymie the relentless efforts by the JSOG and other troops mobilised and deployed to capture wanted criminals in wake of the Lusignan and Bartica killings,” the statement added.
Harris said “the army has been known to be less than honest in the past and this has continued until now.”
In its statement yesterday, the Joint Services advised that the members of the JSOG have been resourced with appropriate kit and equipment and have so far conducted many intelligence-led operations in several areas of the country.
It also said that the unit has an effective command structure and all acts of indiscipline allegedly perpetrated by ranks would be thoroughly investigated and where necessary disciplinary measures would be taken.
