Funding for security sector reform likely to be dispersed year end
Funding for Guyana’s revised Security Sector Reform Action Plan (SSRAP) could be dispersed by the end of the year, Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge revealed on Wednesday.
The Minister who met with media operatives to provide an update on the recent State visit to the United Kingdom (UK), said talks surrounding assistance for crime and security was on top of the agenda.
Greenidge who also holds the portfolio for Vice President gave his assurance that the coalition Government is keen on reactivating the security assistance mechanism.
“I believe that that exercise will be completed before year end and there will be arrangements for some parts of those funds to be dispersed before the end of the year. I am very sure that that is the intention and the plan,” he said, when asked to provide a timeframe.
The Minister also made reference to former top UK military officer, Russell Combe, who is currently in Guyana to assist with the implementation of the SSRAP which is part of a UK funded initiative aimed at improving the security sector here.
Greenidge said, “The visit takes place at a critical juncture of Guyana’s development and at an equally critical one in UK’s political and economic evolution.”
The UK had slashed the amount of money it would have provided to a revised
Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge (centre), Director General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Audrey Waddell (extreme right) and another Ministry official
SSRAP to Guyana because its priority was shifted from security to infrastructure.
The project which began in 2007 was scrapped in 2009 after the British Government had requested to have oversight of the programme to ensure that there was ‘value for money’.
The former Government had disagreed with the manner in which the British Government had wanted the programme to be run, claiming that Britain had sought to intrude upon Guyana’s sovereignty.
However, the British Government said the Government of Guyana had submitted a different proposal which had focused on Police modernisation rather than a holistic approach to reform. The intention was to build a workable basis for improving national security while reducing crime in Guyana.
Government believes that once implemented, Guyana’s security sector will be significantly strengthened and hopefully this will lend to a reduction in the number of illicit activities that takes place.
President David Granger has said too there is need for a stronger Police Force, one that is better equipped with all tools necessary to function adequately.
