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Guyana's President meet residents following 11 person
massacre.
January
28, 2008 (GINA)
Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo on Sunday, met with hundreds of residents
of Mon Repos, Good Hope and Lusignan, East Coast Demerara where he advised that
members of the communities join the Neighbourhood Policing Groups to strengthen
community security.
President Bharrat Jagdeo met with residents to examine ways to make their
communities safer in light of the recent attack by gunmen on the village of
Lusignan which left 11 persons dead and two wounded.
He said that all countries rely on the Police and army for the security of its
citizens but, given Guyana’s small security force it would be impossible to
station ranks in all the villages of the country since if this were done, with
the present strength only 10 percent of the villages would be protected at any
one time.
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President Jagdeo said that his Government has always encouraged the formation of
Community Policing Groups (CPG) to assist in the protection of communities.
These groups have been effective in some communities but others are not
functioning as they should.
In response to residents’ complaints that the police patrols should do more in
offering protection from criminals, President Jagdeo told the residents, “We can
all complain but you need to do something, not only expect the police to get
more aggressive and go after the criminals. At the community level you have to
do your own part and the only way you can do that is if you are trained and
equipped.”
Addressing the reluctance of some residents to join the security services,
Jagdeo said that the Disciplined Services Commission Report submitted to
Parliament stated that the forces were not balanced in terms of ethnicity. He
lamented that some persons complain that the salary is too small and they will
not join the force, but queried how could the money be good for some and not for
others.
Government, he said, was trying to establish Neighbourhood Police to address the
concerns of others of being transferred from their village when they enlist. Six
hundred paid positions were created and only 200 applications were received.
The meeting today he said was aimed at finding alternatives to assist in
securing the villages. Residents were asked to give suggestions as to what could
be done in this regard.
Several suggestions were put forward by the residents. They included: changing
the law making it lawful for all citizens to bear arms, arming all businessmen
so that they could defend themselves and neighbourhood against attacks; burning
down the bushes in the backlands of the villages since the gunmen use the bushes
as cover to gain access to Buxton and the formation of a special squad to hunt
down the gunmen.
Other suggestions included paying stipends to persons involved in the CPGs as an
incentive and accelerating the processing of approval for arming members.
There was a suggestion that hanging should recommence and President Jagdeo
assured residents that he supports hanging any person found guilty of murdering
a defenseless innocent person.
Since becoming President, four death warrants were signed but the entire process
is tied up in the courts since the persons had approached the courts to stop the
hanging. The executive has to submit to the decisions of the court, he said.
January
28, 2008 (GINA)
Addressing the reluctance of some residents to join the security services,
Jagdeo said that the Disciplined Services Commission Report submitted to
Parliament stated that the forces were not balanced in terms of ethnicity. He
lamented that some persons complain that the salary is too small and they will
not join the force, but queried how could the money be good for some and not for
others.