Latest update March 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 19, 2018 News
The long-awaited final report of the security sector reform project was yesterday handed over by British security expert, Lt. Col (Ret’d) Russell Combe to President David Granger at State House.
President Granger in accepting the report, outlined nearly two decades of failed attempts at security sector reform by the previous administration, including engagements with a Peruvian advisor and Bernard Kerik, the former New York Commissioner of Police who was jailed for four years.
The President committed the Coalition Government’s determination to address the root causes of crime and correcting the errors of over two decades of mismanagement of the security sector.
He reminded that the US$4.7B programme was initially scrapped in 2009 by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration after the British Government had requested to have oversight of the programme, to ensure that there was ‘value for money’.
He noted that a number of Bills were passed in the National Assembly, various reports were submitted, but they were generally ignored.
“We have passed through nearly 20 years of would have, could have and should have without any attempt to seriously deal with the security problems in this country and like a disease, you cannot pretend to treat it; you cannot threaten to treat it; you cannot say you’re going to treat it without actually getting down to the root causes.
“We are now trying to correct the errors of over two decades of mismanagement of the security sector,” President Granger stated.
In the case of the Peruvian advisor, President Granger stated that he was employed on July 24, 2006 and he was unemployed the following year.
“Nobody knew about this man. Nobody knows what he did. Nobody knows when he left. He was just like a shadow passing across the security landscape without leaving a trace,” President Granger noted.
It was former President Bharrat Jagdeo who brought in Kerik who was supposed to be engaged as a security advisor from the February 1, 2007. Kerik met Jagdeo at State House.
“Had it not been for the criminal justice system and the fact that Mr. Kerik was soon confined to correction facilities in his homeland we would have been exposed to the tender mercies of Mr. Bernard Kerik, compliments of Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
“Luckily, the efficacy of the United States penal system prevented such an eventuality,” President Granger noted.
NARCO GROWTH
The President said that in 2016, he met former UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, and made a request for security sector reform. The Prime Minister agreed by facilitating Combe, an expert from the Olive Group, which was contracted by Engineering, Design, Construction, Management (AECOM), on behalf of the United Kingdom Government.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces said that the previous plans focused on the symptoms of crime rather than the root cause which, at that time, was narcotics trafficking.
President Granger said that crime escalated because of the growing narcotics trafficking, which brought with it a horrific spate of violence that Guyana had never seen before.
“The linkages were there with the rise of narcotics trafficking. There was a surge in violence; a surge in the corruption of the security forces and in execution killings. The failure to deal with the narco-trafficking threat 20 years ago meant that the administration at the time was attempting to deal with the symptoms rather than the disease and so many of the attempts at security reform were insincere,” President Granger stated.
He added, “[The previous government] wanted to deal with the murders, but they didn’t want to deal with the cause of the murders. Nothing was being done to deal with the root causes of crime and that is narcotics trafficking, which started to corrupt the security forces. All of these measures were not dealing with the cause of crime, only the manifestations of crime,” President Granger said.
COMBE WILL RETURN
Mr. Combe, whose office was housed at the Ministry of the Presidency during his one-year tenure in Guyana, has received a commitment from the President that he will get a further contract extension through to 2019 to help implement the recommendations contained in the report.
“It is a dynamic document; one that was built upon throughout my period of return and also a reference document for the various security sector players and actors,” Combe stated.
He noted that the report places emphasis on the Police Force, it includes recommendations for improvement of the criminal justice system, the Guyana Coast Guard and the Guyana Prison Service.
The UK, Combe outlined, doesn’t want to see the report sitting on the shelf gathering dust.
“It is not the start of some new process. It is not the end because we have already started,” Combe stated.
The President previously promised to set up an office for the programme this year.
The State House ceremony was attended by Chief of Staff, Brigadier Patrick West, Acting Commissioner of Police, Paul Williams and other senior members of the Discipline Services.
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