Focus to be placed on strengthening Police Force – Granger

Security Sector Reform Programme

Having received the analysis of the needs assessment that was conducted by a United Kingdom mission earlier this year, President David Granger has outlined that the revived Security Sector Reform Programme (SSRP)

will focus on enhancing the Guyana Police Force.

Updating media operatives on a meeting he had with the British officials, the Guyanese Head of State noted that the analysis done examined the security needs of the country with a view of restoring some form of security cooperation before Guyana and the UK.

However, Granger noted that strengthening the Police Force and policing activities on the whole was the main concern of his Administration, so the SSRP would be centred on this.

“The main thrust of the SSRP would be improving the Police Force, improving law enforcement particularly in terms of interdicting the serious crimes such as gun running, narco trafficking and other forms of criminality such as murders, executions – and also looking at strengthening the CID (Criminal Investigations Department),” the President stated.

The analysis report was handed over to the President by UK Minister of Africa, Caribbean and Overseas Territories, James Duddridge, who is currently on a familiarisation tour in the Caribbean as part of Britain’s renewed efforts to strengthen relations with the Caribbean Region.

During a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in September last year, President Granger requested that the multimillion-dollar Reform Programme be revived. But, before the Programme can kick into effect, a new assessment had to be done since the security sector in Guyana has changed significantly since the last assessment was done.

The assessment was completed in the first quarter of the year. The analysis that was prepared by the UK assessment mission focused on the current state of the local security sector and contains an action plan going forward as well as how the UK Government could assist in executing the plan.

However, British High Commissioner to Guyana Gregory Quinn noted that the Guyana Government would consider the report and then say what areas it wanted the UK to help with.

“This is not a case of us producing a report and saying ‘this is what you’re going to do and this is when you’re going to do it and this is how you’re going to do it’. It’s ‘here is the situation, we’re here to help you on this and we’ll come and to talk to you, after you digest the report, to see what the next steps are in terms of what we can do,” Quinn explained at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Moreover, Minister Duddridge added that the UK stood ready to help the Guyanese Government to carry out some of the actions advised in the analysis and have expertise on hand to assist. Additionally, he pointed out that international partners were also there to help since the UK may not be readily available as it related to proximity and availability of resources among other areas.