‘Welcome’ signals in Guyana’s anti-crime fight

GEORGETOWN — After months of virtual siege from well-armed and connected criminals, “welcome” signals have finally emerged in Guyana on a possible national consensus in approaches to combat the waves of killings, robberies, hijackings and criminal violence.

As business enterprises in the capital Georgetown and, to a lesser extent, in the far-flung regions of the Essequibo and Berbice counties continued with a second day of shutdown in operations against the criminal rampage, the government and ruling and opposition parties held out the promise of positive change.

The two-day ‘shutdown’ by a newly formed Unite Guyana group that has been coordinating activities with the business sector, was announced as an initiative to get both the government and opposition parties to cooperate in joint efforts to counter the wave of criminality that has been seriously affecting Guyanese since February this year when five armed and dangerous criminals shot their way out of the Georgetown Prison.

Since then, there have been at least 30 known murders, among them 10 policemen, and many more cases of wounding and robbery.

A delegation of the recently established Social Partners Group, comprising the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and the Guyana Bar Association (GBA), has been having rounds of meetings over the past week.

They started with the main opposition People’s National Congress/Reform last Friday, then with the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic on Tuesday and on Wednesday met with President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Their meeting with the president was their second since last month.This time they were accompanied by Chiefs of Staff of the Joint Security Services — retired Major General of the Guyana Defence Force, Norman McLean; retired Brigadier of the GDF, Joe Singh; and retired Police Commissioner Laurie Lewis.

The input of the trio of former top officers of the Joint Security Services was sought by the Social Partners Group, headed by the PSC chairman Dr Peter DeGroot, in the formulation of proposals for consensual approaches in combating the criminal rampage.

President Jagdeo had earlier had briefings with the current heads of the Joint Security Services — Chief of Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Michael Atherley and Police Commissioner Floyd McDonald — along with secretary of the Defence Board and head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon. The latter was also at Wednesday’s meeting.

Without giving details of their meetings with the PNC/R, PPP/C and the president, the representatives of the Social Partners Group have reported their “satisfaction” with the talks held and with contemplated action on “a number of suggestions”.

Both the secretary of the PPP/C, Donald Ramotar, and secretary of the PNC/R, Oscar Clarke, welcomed the meetings with the social partners’ representatives as constructive and said the outcome was “fruitful” and quite “promising”.

Dr Luncheon said the proposals resulting from the dialogue with the social partners and the retired heads of the Joint Services were “very comprehensive” and should lead to “the evolution of a national consensus” on the measures to be adopted to deal with the present crime situation.

Manning: No land for Muslimeen

PORT-OF-SPAIN — Prime Minister Patrick Manning has reaffirmed his decision not to release a portion of state land to the controversial Jamaat-al-Muslimeen of Yasin Abu Bakr.

Speaking to the media ahead of assembling his new cabinet yesterday, Manning seemed anxious not to distance himself from the controversy that followed his pre-election decision to give some five acres of state land to the Muslimeen adjacent to the group’s headquarters complex at Mucurapo Road.

Having rescinded that decision to give the Jamaat the land under a barrage of criticisms, including from among influential PNM colleagues, the prime minister told the local media that “no deals” had been made about the land with Abu Bakr who had openly campaigned for the PNM to return to power.

He said he did not have “the option of granting the land to the Muslimeen”. Manning also repeated another pre-election stance that the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) would have to be made more accountable in its operations.

The independent commission has been faced with pressures from the PNM for both the 2001 and 2002 general elections, including having to resist the appointment of senior management personnel, arguing that it could not be directed to do so without violating its independence and integrity.

But Manning said that the EBC should be made “accountable to some group, even if it is a committee of Parliament”. He, however, did not make criticisms of voter padding or electoral irregularities as he and senior PNM colleagues had done for last year’s election.