Region 2 business community slams Police over attitude, corruption

Ranks attached to the G Division (Essequibo Coast-Islands), Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), came in for harsh criticism on Saturday when members of the region’s business sector met with two Ministers at State House in Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast.

The meeting was held with Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan and new Business Minister, Hemraj Rajkumar. During the meeting, members of the business community in the region complained about the attitude and reported corrupt practices of some of the Police ranks within the division.
Speaking at the meeting, cellphone dealer Nahib Sabar who was robbed four times in 2018 and once in 2019, complained that to date, no arrest has been made in any of the robberies. According to Sabar, the Police in the region appear reluctant to investigate, although he provided them with much-needed information. He publicly told Minister Ramjattan that on one occasion, he caught two men stealing phones from his business and took them to the Anna Regina Police Station but to his surprise, when he went back to the Anna Regina Police Station the following day, there were no records at the station of the persons he took in the previous day. He added that he made several complaints to the Divisional Commander but the Police kept ignoring him and he subsequently reached out to the media to vent his frustration. According to the businessman, after his views were published in several sections of the media, he was arrested and placed in the Anna Regina Police lock-ups for over 72 hours. The businessman said he was subsequently released on $100,000 station bail but no charges were instituted against him. He said too that he has since been unable to recover his bail money.
Following the businessman’s complaint, Ramjattan immediately called the Commander who was in the vicinity providing security to join the meeting to hear the business community’s complaints. Meanwhile, other business persons present at the meeting complained about traffic ranks soliciting brides, the harassment of drivers, bad public attitude displayed by some ranks and the need for the improvement of investigative capacity. The business community also called on the Minister to address the long wait for gun licences.