The acquisition of two Bell 206 helicopters by the Guyana Defence Force has yielded a perception among citizens that every criminal act deserves an immediate response utilizing the machines, but a military source has said that their deployment would have to be based on careful assessment and reliable intelligence.
The recent killing of 22-year-old Arjune Singh, who was gunned down while at a police checkpoint on Middleton Street, Campbell-ville, and subsequent reports of gunfire in several parts of the city, the shots fired from outside the Water Chris Hotel and restaurant followed by the channa-bombing at the Ministry of Culture on Friday, many believe, were perfect opportunities for the helicopters to have been pressed into service. However they were not deployed in any of these instances.
Last week a team of reporters approached Defence Board Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon for an answer to the question as to when the choppers would be used and whether the Middleton Street incident, for instance, could not be deemed an appropriate occasion. In response Luncheon said, “Not every tin cup that knocks the helicopter would be used.” He explained too that the situation would have to be assessed before such an intervention would be considered.
President Bharrat Jagdeo was also posed the same question along with Luncheon’s response at a press conference on Friday. Jagdeo told reporters that the deployment of the chopper was more of an operational issue and so he was reluctant to deal with such a matter at the political level.
“We bought the helicopters to increase the capability of the security forces. I believe their deployment will depend on their assessment of the situation and their judgment,” he said.
Jagdeo further said he did not feel that intervention at the policy level was the best way to go, but acknowledged that the servicemen should be accountable to the policy makers.
Supporting the assertion of the two officials, Stabroek News’s source noted that while the helicopters were a vital element in crime fighting, they would come into play when there was active and reliable intelligence and where immediate communication could be made with ground troops who would then be guided by those overhead.
This newspaper’s source stated that the only way the bandits could have been intercepted following Wednesday’s shootings was by effective roadblocks. The helicopters arrived following the Bartica and Lusignan killings, although according to the source had not been acquired because of the slayings. All the government had done was speed up the process to ensure there would be proper surveillance.
The source explained that the work of the helicopters was not to transport troops, but in the case of emergenices, they could transport an advance team to a particular location where criminals may be hiding out. “The role of the helicopter is to pick up activities on the ground and then notify ground troops. If by chance there is specific information like, let’s say, a white car believed to be proceeding along a specific street, we can trace it and keep tabs while troops are on the ground, and we advise of any changes of route and so on. But it cannot fetch troops,” the source said.
The military source also informed this newspaper that from all appearances there were no immediate plans to sell the Bell 412 helicopter and so with this in mind, the suggestion as put forward is that only in emergency situations the 412 would transport troops and place them at appropriate spots.
The source insisted too that the helicopters are used in many countries for the same purpose and will benefit Guyana; “But their role has to be understood.”
Asked about communication equipment on the helicopters, the source could not confirm whether the choppers were outfitted with high frequency radios. However the source pointed out that it is a civil aviation requirement for an aircraft flying more than 75 miles beyond the Cheddi Jagan International Airport for such a machine to have the radio.
The debate about the suitability of the choppers has died down somewhat, but the army has since made it clear that it is extremely comfortable with the acquisition, saying the machines had been checked and inspected by its engineers and were affordable to maintain.
Army Chief of Staff Commodore Gary Best explained that the helicopter forms part of a strategic plan by the Guyana Defence Force to resource its aviation unit with reconnaissance, medium life and troop transport capability over a phased period.
He said the helicopters were primarily for reconnaissance missions and tactical insertions of forward exploration troops.
He said that the choppers were multi-mission, capable of conducting both medical evacuations and search and rescue.
