Police, Region Ten refute KN article

- at meeting convened by Minister of State

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, yesterday, convened a meeting with the Commissioner of Police,  Seelall Persaud, Commander of ‘E’ Division, Fazil Karimbaksh, Chairman of Upper Demerara–Berbice (Region 10),  Rennis Morian and Deputy National Director of the Community Development Council (CDC), Sandra Adams, to discuss the relationship between the regional administration and the police division.

A release from the Ministry of the Presidency said at that meeting the police and regional officials refuted the claims published in yesterday’s edition of the Kaieteur News, under the headline `“Region Ten Chairman allegedly threatens transfer if ranks disobey him’ as malicious, mischievous and without any basis in fact.

Harmon, who is performing the functions of Prime Minister and was in the Region for another activity, said that the article created the impression that the Regional administration and the police division were at loggerheads and could not work together. This, he said, became a matter of concern and as such, the meeting was held.

The Commissioner of Police, in an invited comment after the meeting, said that after having seen the article, a call was made to the Commander to ascertain the truth of the claims.

“He assured me that the issues raised in the articles are not factual. As a matter of fact, some of the specific ones, he has no information about and regarding his relationship with the Regional administration, it is a very professional relationship. I had some concerns when I read the article because it impacts on public trust and it impacts on the Commander’s own command of the ranks within the division. So I was happy when I heard that and I was happy also when the Minister called for this intervention. At the meeting, the Regional Chairman spoke the same language as the Commander indicating that the relationship is a professional one, which the police needs to keep,” Commissioner Persaud said.

“Articles such as these certainly impacts the relationships we are trying to build with communities. We have those concerns and that is why we had this meeting. There are some unprofessional standards by the Editor because they could have called, they could have asked to interview the commander on the issues before they actually published so you have a balanced article, but to go out and write an article that raises issues, which can cause the public to lose trust in the police is certainly one of the top issues that we deal with. We are doing a whole lot of work to build public trust because we are dependent on that and certainly articles like these hits centre at the balance of these efforts,” the Commissioner added.

The release said that Commander Karimbaksh in an invited comment, echoed these sentiments noting that since assuming command of ‘E’ Division in October 2016, the regional administration and the police have had a professional, cordial relationship.

“The article in the Kaieteur News, it is inaccurate. I do not take any instructions from the Regional Chairman. We have a very professional relationship and that has been so since I assumed command of this division in October 2016 and that relationship continues up to this day. At no time [did] the Regional Chairman ever call me and gave me any instructions. What I do recall is that when I assumed command of this division, I spoke to the Regional Chairman and he told me that he is a civilian and I must not report to him, be professional and we will deal with professional issues,” he said.

Morian, according to the release,  said that the Region could not have asked for a better Commander as the crime rates have significantly reduced since Karimbaksh took over.

“I am happy with the work that is coming out from the administration of Commander Karimbaksh and we look forward to seeing the crime rates falling.  I am tremendously happy that he was brought to Region 10 because of the professionalism and spirit that he brought here,” he said.