Guyana Police Force is being used to muzzle protesters in Region Six

Dear Editor,
The Guyana Police Force is mandated to protect and serve the people, unfortunately, the priority of the Police Force is to serve and protect the APNU/AFC coalition Government Ministers, Government officials, while the ordinary Guyanese is being sacrificed to the mercy of bandits and criminals, thanks to the incompetence of Khemraj Ramjattan and the APNU/AFC coalition Government.
The security situation in Guyana remains a serious concern for every single Guyanese. The APNU/AFC coalition Government promised the Guyanese people in 2015 that high emphasis would be placed on the security of Guyanese but the only thing that changed was the name of the Ministry that is responsible for security, increased police security for Ministers, leaving Guyana with an uncontrolled level of crimes in the entire country. The Minister who is directly responsible for public security, Khemraj Ramjattan, and the Guyana Police Force boastfully, in reports, stats and the media, highlighted that the crime situation is under control but the reality is quite opposite.
The facts are that Guyanese have definitely lost confidence in the Guyana Police Force, whereby people are even refusing to report incidents that they have encountered, and even if these matters are reported, the Police Force is of no help. I am confident that the response that would be given by Khemraj Ramjattan and other Government officials is that crime is under control.
A 170-year Indian culture in Guyana where music is being played for weddings is being stopped by Ramjattan and the GPF. This Indian tradition is being strangled by this APNU/AFC Government and confined to Berbice alone.
The Guyana Police Force is being used as a political football. Recently at a picketing exercise at New Amsterdam Multilateral School, protesters were being forced by the police to move about 500 feet from the entrance of the school while thugs of the APNU/AFC were allowed to remain at the entrance of the school. APNU/AFC thugs were allowed by the police to behave abusively towards protesters while the police refused to remove them from in front of the school entrance. The police even tolerated the loud abusive and taunts.
The protesters who were exercising their constitutional rights were not given that privilege, senior police officers ensured that four policemen were placed to keep protesters 500 feet away from the entrance of the school. During the PPP/C Government in office, during the 2015 campaign, protesters were allowed at the location of a meeting in Lusignan, East Coast Demerara. I’m still contemplating if we had a change in rules now.
The big question is, are we moving to a full-fledged dictatorship where the Police Force is being used to subdue and stifle democracy? David Granger’s visits to New Amsterdam Multilateral School is an insult to the lives of many of those students whose parents were dismissed from the sugar estates by this Granger Administration, and can barely afford to be in school, the students’ cash grant was taken away by Granger’s APNU/AFC Government and with the same breath, Granger is preaching that his Government wants every child to be in school, that is “high class hypocrisy”. Granger’s rhetoric about regional involvement is just to mislead the populace. The 1 million dollar cash grant by Granger is a pittance, compared to approximately 100 million dollars that is being spent at Bermine Ground for the Republic Celebration in 2020. So you the people can actually determine what is the priority of this illegal APNU/AFC coalition Government.

Regards,
Zamal Hussain