| December 06,
2007: Guyana's Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee
has highlighted the success of a new crime fighting strategy
which has resulted in a reduction in criminal activities for
2007. He credits the government's support of the
Police Force for leading to the successful efforts.
Specifically he pointed out that the force has been
receiving tremendous support from government through several
initiatives in the areas of training, building of modern
Police stations, improving the Force’s forensic capability
and intelligence gathering unit. According to the
Government Information Agency, Police statistics show that
there has been a total of 1,971 criminal activities
committed this year compared to a total of 2,368 last year,
reflecting a 17 percent reduction.
Of particular note, there were 99 murders this year
compared to 135 last year and 1,094 reported robberies
compared to 1,454 last year.
In an apparent disconnect with the force, the justice system
in Guyana appears to be floundering much the same as in
other countries in the region. While lauding the successes
of the Police Force, the Minister expressed concern over the
recent incident where a Magistrate granted pre-trial liberty
to two robbery-under arms accused. "It is unfortunate since
the hard work of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is going down
the drain," he said. He went on, “I am very
disappointed with this. The Police are doing their best to
clean up the country. It’s really unacceptable. I understand
that the entire Essequibo Coast is upset over this. The
magnificent work done by the Police has been shattered by
the criminal justice system which is not taking cognizance
of the country’s whole fight against crime,”. The men were
part of a group of five charged with robbery under arms
committed at Richmond, Essequibo Coast on October 10. |
