—Associate Dean, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies
Good governance is critical to national, regional and international security which in turn provides an environment for foreign direct investment and for assistance from international donors.
Speaking on the subject ‘Defence and Security: Public Goods and Responsibilities’ at the first working session of the US Embassy-sponsored Guyana Civil-Military Rela-tions Conference held at the Grand Coastal Inn yesterday, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs of the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS), Dr Michael Gold-Biss said that donors kept in mind how they would have to account to taxpayers for their spending and foreign inves-tors would want to feel safe that they could repatriate a fair share of the profits of their investments.
In what was purely an academic presentation which stimulated much discussion from the floor mainly by the Guyanese participants, Gold-Biss defined good governance as having the characteristics of being consensus oriented, participatory, following the rule of law, being effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, responsive, transparent, accountable and democratic.
Noting that security could no longer be regarded an isolated issue given the nature of organized and transnational crime he said that it was an inter-dependent issue as well as being necessary for national, regional and international development.
The perception of threats to security in the Caribbean region, he said were basically narco-trafficking, poverty and societal needs, environmental issues and natural disasters, arms trafficking and organised crime.
The political conditions he highlighted in the region included weak, failing and at least one failed state, that of Haiti. The issue of weak, failing and failed states generated a lively debate in which examples including Haiti, Colombia, Somalia and Zimbabwe were looked at.
On a general scale, he noted that the problems facing governments on good governance in Latin America and the Caribbean included corruption, impunity, economic decline, social and economic inequality (Latin America is the most inequitable world area), cultures of violence in which personal and public differences were solved with violence, and political violence.
All these features developed when the state security structures did not work. This subject led to another discussion on the privatization of security services. However, Gold-Biss noted that the privatization of the security services might not be a good idea in an emerging democracy but would be better suited to a full-fledged democracy.
During the discussions on the floor it was noted that due to the lack of a secure environment many people were now turning to private security organizations or recruiting their own guards – who may be too old, ill-equipped, or ill-suited – to meet their physical security needs because the Guyana Police Force could not adequately meet those needs.
One participant noted the need for professionalism in the security sector, particularly in the police force, which they said needed to be trained and paid on a professional scale given the fact that fighting crime was becoming a science in itself.
The participant said that there seemed to be a reluctance on the part of the government to develop the human resource aspects of policing as opposed to buying equipment, and pay the police decent salaries.
Noting the policing role the Guyana Defence Force has been playing in recent years alongside the police force, many questions on the policing activities of the military in general were also asked.
The issue of investing in human resources was also discussed within the wider Caribbean context as the region moves towards a single market and single economy, with one participant suggesting that a soldier trained in Guyana or another trained in Jamaica should be able to serve in either Caricom territory. This was seen as one of the practical means of dealing with transnational crimes.
The seminar attracted a number of private and civil society participants, including the heads of the private security services in Guyana, retired military and police officers, the Jamaica Defence Force, the University of Guyana, the University of the West Indies and some media personnel. The activity was boycotted by the government which said that it did not reflect a suitable input from the administration.
However, seminar participants felt that in spite of the government’s boycott the outcomes should nevertheless be documented and forwarded to the government for its information and guidance.
