Guyana will be receiving support from regional neighbours in the form of surveillance aircraft which will be flying over parts of the country during the ten-day Carifesta.
President Bharrat Jagdeo made this announcement during a pre- Carifesta press briefing at the Office of the President yesterday. While stressing the importance of security, Jagdeo made a strong call for patience and understanding by all as the Joint Services work diligently around the clock to ensure maximum security throughout the event which begins today and ends next Sunday.
Addressing media representatives, the president said that during Carifesta security will be a very important issue and in that light he had a look at the Operational Order of the police, which is very comprehensive.
Jagdeo stated that the order covers all the regions of the country and not just the venues where the activities will be held,
“…Because we don’t want to deplete our capability in the other regions to respond to any incident that may occur in those regions by concentrating only on the venues for activities.” He underscored that the operational order covers the whole country.
“We will be on an elevated state of alertness throughout the country – that is the security forces. They will all be in line and we are going to have some additional features, we are going to have regional support for surveillance. So some surveillance aircraft will be over Guyana to detect unusual activities,” Jagdeo said.
T’dad bomb team
Added to the regional surveillance support, the president stated that a Trinidadian bomb detection team will be here and would be sweeping all venues to ensure that people are safe.
He stated too that there will be enhanced security at the prisons, which is very important, especially given experiences in the past.
As part of the Carifesta security arrangements, Jagdeo said that road blocks will be set up and drivers, especially those coming from the East Bank and East Coast Demerara, will be delayed.
“We are going to have a number of road blocks and again I am pleading with the public to understand that we have to provide a safe environment for everyone. There will be some discomfort to many people who are driving. They are going to have to go through a number of roadblocks. All the vehicles will have to be searched,” he added.
He said that drivers will be delayed for extended periods because the security forces will be doing their work.
The president also pleaded with persons attending some of the activities to leave early, as that is a part of the security plan.
Plea for understanding
“I plead with them for understanding. Sometimes when you want greater security you have to face the additional discomfort,” he said, adding that persons without tickets should not go to venues as this will present problems for the security forces because they will not be allowed in.
“The presence will be overwhelming and we don’t want chaos and confusion in the venues. You have to have tickets to attend these activities. If you don’t have tickets, it doesn’t make any sense that you come because you are not going to get it and I want to reiterate that message that the secretariat has been saying over and over,” he said.
Jagdeo also urged communities to work together and to support their respective Community Policing Groups (CPG). He said that all the CPGs have been mobilized but Guyanese also need to be vigilant and assist the police and the policing groups to detect and also to report any unusual activities in their communities.
According to Jagdeo there are many other things that are being put in place as part of the security plan but because of its nature all cannot be revealed.
“But I want to assure you that from all I have seen Minister Rohee and his team have worked in a dedicated fashion to put together solid security arrangements for the festival,” he assured.
Earlier this week, the Joint Services released their detailed security plan to the media, in which assurances were given that measures have been put in place to deal with all aspects of security during Carifesta X.
