GT&T denies technical defects in 911 system

– says missing handsets, unanswered calls frequent at stations

The Guyana Telephone   and Telegraph Company (GT&T) yesterday denied that technical issues were to blame for problems dogging the 911 emergency system, while revealing that its own checks revealed that missing handsets and unresponsive personnel during standard working hours at police stations were frequent occurrences.

The company’s issued its defence in a statement yesterday in response to a claim by PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee earlier in the day that the landline service provider must take responsibility for calls not being connected.

“GT&T are not accepting any responsibility or any blame/fault on their part for the 911 number or calls not going through to the police station or where they ought to be received—because I have heard many persons tell me, and these are people I consider to be credible persons, they would call 911 and they would hear the ringtone in the phone they are using but someone sitting on the other side… there is no number ringing there,” Rohee stated at a press conference at Freedom House yesterday.

He said he had first-hand experience of seeing police ranks sitting by the phone awaiting a call that never came through. He said that this could only