Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter on September 8 in Kaieteur News captioned ‘An F Grade for Rohee and the police.’ Editor, I am in total agreement with the writers.
While I am aware that our police force does not have adequate resources to do an ideal job, it is my firm opinion that if the resources they presently have, had been used wisely and not misused, they would have done a better job and many of the unsolved crimes could have been solved while others could have been prevented.
For example, the police in Mahdia who have the responsibility of maintaining law and order and providing security for Mining District 2 which runs from Ayanganna Mountain to Omai, (the entire Potaro River) lately have been very restricted in their mobility. It is only recently they received another All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and a pickup. Their only means of transportation previously was an ATV. Many times when they needed to make a report or go to a crime scene they had to rely on assistance from the public, which could compromise an investigation, since by the time they reached the scene the perpetrator/s could have been tipped off and would have had enough time to make their escape – and the interior has many escape routes.
The interior over the years has been a safe haven for criminals, and many miners have been robbed and killed in their quest to make a living, but still the authorities did not see the necessity of equipping the police here or sending backup from time to time to assist in providing security for the miners. Sometimes I get the notion that the authorities are only interested in what the miners can produce.
Had the police here not been restricted in their mobility many of the crimes here could have been solved or prevented. Many of the areas they would have wanted to patrol they could not go to, since one ATV can only take two ranks and in the case of certain areas it is not wise to send only two ranks owing to the risks. There was an incident where two ranks stationed at the Kato Police Station were killed and burned. Many times after a robbery I was expecting a backup force to assist our police here in capturing the perpetrator/s, but to no avail.
And while the authorities were having difficulty over the years in sending reinforcements to protect the hard-working business persons and miners here, for some strange reason when a group of miners, mostly women, staged a peaceful picketing exercise over the deplorable state of the inner Mahdia roads in addition to some other issues, within hours the authorities were able to mobilise two vanloads of riot police well equipped for war with brand new vehicles to break up the protest. This says to me that they are not too mindful of the security of the miners. It is just unfortunate how leaders utilize their resources and where they place their priorities.
I also believe that our police force would have done a better job had it been free of political interference.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Crawford
Regionl Chairman
Region Eight
