Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee yesterday lashed out at the media for their reportage of burgeoning crime, road fatalities and numerous security issues and events last year, deeming them deliberate smear attacks on his ministry.
Rohee made the accusations at the ministry’s year-end briefing, levelling them at Stabroek News, Kaieteur News, Prime News and Capitol News; online entities including iNews and Demerara Waves were also called out by the minister.
“There will be critics, not to mention the prophets of doom and gloom who have well established themselves through their writings in the print media, criticizing the Ministry of Home Affairs and the law enforcement agencies,” Rohee said.
According to Rohee, the aforementioned entities are simply out to make “huge profits” while deliberately painting the ministry in a bad light. Rohee’s accusations included alleged payments for leaks from the Guyana Police Force (GPF), planned portrayals of Guyana’s situation as grim, and oversight of the accomplishments of the GPF throughout the year.
Rohee continued, “Sometimes I get the impression that the critics do not want reform… Their criticisms are of course political in nature, notwithstanding the pretences at wanting an improved security situation in our country.”
Though the minister admitted that Guyana’s crime situation should not be hidden, he stated that the news should not be sensationalized for “selfish interests” as this hurts the security sector most.
Meanwhile, Rohee deemed 2014 a success. “Save for the cases of police misconduct, an increase in disorderly murders – principally as a result of domestic violence – gun-related crimes and road fatalities which threaten public trust in policing over the last 12 months, the year 2014 has been an uneventful and relatively successful year for law enforcement agencies. Peace and good order in our society has prevailed,” Rohee declared.
During his nearly two-hour long report, the minister gave updates on a number of programmes embarked upon by the ministry last year and focused on areas such as the GPF, Guyana Fire Service and Guyana Prison Service.
Much of the minister’s time was spent on the GPF which received more than $720 million in allocations.
According to Rohee, the GPF was the agency which came under the most fire from the public and, in turn, he had received much of the backlash.
Rohee said, “Our role [the ministry’s] is to set the strategic agenda and to ensure that we support the police in their duties; ultimately, it is for the Commissioner, the Crime Chief and their subordinate ranks to determine how best to achieve their goals, not the minister or public servants.”
Instead, he said, “As Minister of Home Affairs it is my job to improve the partnerships in the security sector and to make the criminal judicial system work smoothly, especially in the area of collaboration with the DPP Chambers.”
During his report, Rohee also noted the alarming road fatality figures at the end of 2014. As of December 31, there were 146 deaths as a result of 135 accidents.
He lauded improvements in the Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) and also launched Guyana’s new National Drug Strategy Master Plan. These plans have been criticized in the past for not having achieved anything.
Meanwhile, Rohee has promised improved performance in all of the ministry’s agencies through technological advances. These advancements, he said, will be aimed at reducing the amount of paper and clutter in the agencies and allow for better access to information.
Amongst the advancements are body cameras, video and camera devices to capture evidence, and increased CCTV presence. Rohee further said that training in areas such as crowd control will continue while there will be an upgrade in the passport system in Guyana.
