Joint Services in massive exercise against “domestic security threat”
…citizens asked to cooperate
One day after Head of State, President David Granger sounded an alarm that the recent uptick in criminal activities is in fact a part of a coordinated effort to embarrass the Government and the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the administration says it has received credible information related to a potential domestic security threat and will respond with a massive security crackdown.
Citizens are asked not be alarmed, but to cooperate with security forces where necessary
According to the Ministry of the Presidency, the security exercise will be conducted by the Joint Services—the GPF and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
“Citizens are asked not be alarmed, but to cooperate with security forces where necessary… The safety of all residents and visitors to Guyana remains a top priority for the administration,” according an official notification from the Ministry of the Presidency.
The Ministry said that the action is in response to the credible threat it has received, “coupled with increased criminal activity (that) has resulted in the decision by the Administration to institute security measures in targeted areas.”
The security crackdown begins today and according to the Ministry, “citizens can expect to see helicopters providing aerial coverage and an increased number of Police Officers, along with members of the GDF on the ground in certain areas.”
Granger on Thursday met with members of the local media corps for his ‘The Public Interest’ television programme and said, “I am suggesting that the pattern of crimes that we have seen is part of a campaign.”
According to the Head of State, “I get the impression that these crimes, they are crimes, they are almost to embarrass the Police Force, to embarrass the Government.”
The President was adamant that “we have to be very careful that people are committing crimes because of some ulterior motives… Maybe it is to show that the Police Force is weak or the Government is weak.”
The operation also coincides with a very public spat between Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud and his likely successor David Ramnarine, which the President said could in fact embolden criminal elements.
Lamenting on the fact that the matter has in fact been playing out in the public domain, Granger called the state of affairs unseemly and of concern, since it could in fact not only have a negative impact on the morale of the ranks of the force, but can embolden criminal elements looking to do mischief.
He suggested too that such high-level quarrelling in the hierarchy of the Police Force can also undermine the public trust in the institution.
