GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — Guyana’s president, Dr Irfaan Ali, said Tuesday that Trinidad and Tobago’s decision to implement a state of emergency (SOE) to deal with crime should underscores the problems being faced by Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries in dealing with the crime situation across the region.

The Keith Rowley Government announced the SOE on Monday due to the threat to national security posed by reprisal killings and the use of high-powered weapons.

Acting Attorney General Stuart Young explained that the SOE was declared based on information provided to them by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), adding that there were elements that could not be divulged.

Speaking at an end of year news conference, President Ali told reporters, as criminals feel pressured in their territories they look for new territories “and that’s how the criminal entity operates.

“So as there is the push factor, they look for new territory when they are threatened in their existing territory and as they conquer territory they try to grow the network to hold more and more territory.

“We are a very integrated and closely knit community across the Caricom region. So of course this is of great concern to all of us in Caricom,” Ali told reporters, adding “your point is so key that the entire region is paying attention to this [crime] now.

“The movement of gangs, the transfer of weapons [as well as] expansion of gangs, and so on, we have to be mindful of this,” Ali said.

Guyana’s authorities, he said, have been beefing up the immigration system to help determine who is entering.

“So it is not human-based anymore, it is about the technology and the utilisation… so that when people are coming in we know who are coming in. We are also going to continue to advance the technology that we are investing in from safe city to safe country now.”

Ali said that the plan is to have the new system operational all over the country as well as having more friendlier policing approach to help stem criminal activities and that job opportunities and more social activities are also helping in this regard.

He praised the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for its work over the past years, saying while Guyana has recorded a significant decline in criminal activities across the board this year it cannot let its guard down.

“We have had numerous training programmes with our regional and international partners for all levels of our ranks and this also have brought tremendous results,” Ali said, noting that the crime rate here has reduced by 13.6 per cent this year when compared with 2023.

“Over the last 10 years, the lowest number of murders were recorded this year. Over the last 10 years the lowest number of all categories of robberies were recorded this year,” he added.