911 emergency line to be fixed soon

After several months of delay, works on the defunct 911 system have commenced, and could be completed before the end of this year, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan has said.
The Minister said the equipment, sourced through Digicel (Guyana) to have the 911 system back up and running, has already arrived in the country, and GTT will now assist with the installation.Ramjattan also revealed that training for staff to work in the emergency services centre have commenced in preparation for the re-launch of both the 911 services, which he admitted is extremely important.
Some $250 million have been allocated in budget 2017 for the setting up of the 911 phone lines.
In 2014, GTT’s management and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) pointed fingers at each other over the ineffectiveness of the 911 emergency numbers. At that time, Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud felt that the problem was technical and had to do with GTT, removing blame from the GPF.
GTT, on the other hand, had that same year released a statement calling out the GPF for what they described as less than satisfactory responses to 911 calls.
The company had said that year there were handsets which had disappeared at the 911 receiving stations, and in some cases handsets were taken off the hook, or the phones were not answered by those responsible for taking these calls during standard working hours.
Meanwhile, Ramjattan said, too, that expansion works at the Brickdam Police Station lock-up could be completed by the end of this year.
According to him, the Ministry had invited bids for contractors to undertake works to the ventilation system and washroom facilities at the lock-up. The total sum of $164 million has been set aside to assist with these works.
The Minister also revealed that there were issues with the design of the lock-up, which was brought to the attention of a parliamentary select committee that made a site visit several weeks ago.