PNCR-1G MP Deborah Backer is urging the government to use the windfall earned through the Value Added Tax (VAT) to purchase boats and planes to enhance the capacity of the security forces to man the country’s porous borders.
Speaking on the issue of security and calling on Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee to resign “in the face of miserable failure and incompetence,” Backer in the debate on the budget in the National Assembly yesterday also made a number of other recommendations to improve the security situation in the country.
She noted that the government allocated $13.9 billion for crime and security, but said that sum was not adequate. Nearly $1 billion was promised by the President for the purchase of two helicopters, which she contended was hurriedly allocated as a result of the Lusignan and Bartica killings, but this was not reflected in the national budget.
The national budget, she noted, allocated capital expenditure of $100 million for the Guyana Police Force to buy vehicles, boats and engines. No money had been allocated to the Guyana Defence Force to buy any boat or plane.
“At best this allocation is hugely deficient and we seem to see drug trafficking, trafficking in arms and ammunition, fuel smuggling, smuggling in other uncustomed goods, the illegal movement of persons across borders, and a high level of piracy continue in 2008.”
She suggested that the government start holding seminars using local expertise to begin transforming the Guyana Police Force into a community-friendly organisation aimed at winning “hearts and soul” rather than “operation alienation” which she said it was now bent on.
She urged the government to change the name of the police force, in keeping with the 2000 Symonds Report, which suggested that it should be renamed the Guyana Police Service to reflect its motto instead of the use of force and torture.
“The PNCR fully supports the establishment of a SWAT team and other such teams to confront rampaging gangs,” she added.
Backer said the government should encourage at the level of the PPP/C “an active programme to encourage its supporters to take up the challenge to assist with securing our nation by joining the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Prison Service to attain their authorized strength.”
Noting that the Symonds Report had recommended the enactment of legislation to regularise community policing groups and that was reinforced by the 2004 Disciplined Services Report in which the PPP/C was represented, she urged the government to implement the recommendation.
Calling for an increase in salary for policemen and noting that the salary of a constable was $34,219, she said young people would not be encouraged to join the police force with such remuneration.
She also urged the government to pay an allowance to members of the disciplined forces who have been in line since January month-end, noting the conditions under which they have been serving. Policemen in line are not paid overtime.
She also called on the government to implement the recommendations of the Border and National Security Committee, which was established by President Bharrat Jagdeo and then opposition leader Desmond Hoyte and co-chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran and Brigadier (ret’d) David Granger. She urged that it also engage and deepen the talks on joint border security, at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Brazil and Suriname.
Noting that Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Patrick Manning recently suggested the establishment of a regional law enforcement unit and that the suggestion was supported by the government of Suriname, Backer called on government to support the idea as well.
To maintain the integrity of the office of the Commissioner of Police, Backer said, government should appoint the acting Commissioner of Police to the post of Commissioner of Police or if not find a replacement.
She said that it was unacceptable that after two years the post has not been confirmed, which leaves the office bearer open to the whims and fancies of the President or the Minister of Home Affairs.
Under a new Minister of Home Affairs, she said, the ministry should re-engage the business community to support the Crime Stoppers Programme, which “Minister Rohee admits had been stumped.”
She called for the establishment of a national broad-based committee to craft a national morality programme for the country as there was a large social component to criminal activities of violence and sexual offences.
In this regard, she commended Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand on her “Stamp it Out” programme to deal with sexual offences. In like manner, she suggested that Manickchand introduce a similar programme on stamping out violence with the support of the Ministry of Home Affairs. She noted that Caricom has a model for dealing with the issue of violence, which is also being promoted by the United Nations.
Backer reiterated her call for banning music in minibuses and other vehicles used for public transportation but on this occasion she said the ban must be immediate.
Pointing out that in 2007 road fatalities outstripped murders, she called for the installation of mechanical devices (governors) to control the maximum speed at which public vehicles could travel.
