State’s assets will be protected – Top Cop assures PPP/C

Police Commissioner Leslie James has assured the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will put systems in place to secure all state assets, including documents and fixed assets, during this period when there is going to be a transition of government.

The Top Cop gave this assurance during a meeting with a high-level team from the PPP/C on Wednesday morning. The team comprised of PPP/C’s Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali; Prime Ministerial Candidate, former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff, (ret’d) Brigadier Mark Phillips; General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo, and Executive Member, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
Speaking with reporters following the meeting, which lasted just over 30 minutes, Ali said he wants the security forces in the country to be ready and willing to safeguard and secure all state assets.
“You would recall, in 2015, there were Police officers stationed at every ministry and department whilst the transition was taking place. So, we raised this with the commissioner. As you are aware, there’s lots of news and photographs circulating with documents and assets being moved, and we’ve asked him to ensure that he looks at this and to ensure that systems are in place to secure State assets and documents. The Commissioner assured us that systems will be put in place to do just this,” Ali said.

The PPP/C had previously called on the Top Cop to take all necessary steps to protect all public buildings which house Government offices. This was just one day after the March 2 General and Regional Elections, which the recently concluded National Recount has shown a 15,000 plus victory for Ali’s party.
In the March 3 statement, the party said, “We have received credible information that attempts are being made to remove and destroy important records of the Government of Guyana, and other public documents and moveable assets of the State. We expect the Guyana Police Force to discharge its statutory duty in protecting and preserving official records of the Government of Guyana and all Government and State properties.”
More recently, however, a flooding incident at the Finance Ministry has raised suspicions, especially since it occurred the same day the National Recount was completed, confirming the PPP/C’s victory.
It was reported on Sunday that a water main allegedly broke, leading to water leaking into the bottom floor and soaking boxes of documents, files and computers at the Finance Ministry.
Meanwhile, the PPP/C team was also assured by the Top Cop that the Police Force is actively monitoring the situation and gathering intelligence to deal with any threats of post elections violence.

Inciting comments
During the discussions, the party officials also raised concerns about racially hostile and inciting comments on social media.
“The Commissioner responded that he has systems in place. They are actively monitoring what is happening, and they’ve compiled a list of breaches and they’ve sent that list for legal advice in relation to the statements made on social media inciting people and so on,” Ali stated.
It was noted, too, that a request was made for the Party to have a contact within the Police Force to share related information with and identify those persons creating mischief.
According to the PPP/C Presidential Candidate, while his party does not want to deny anyone their constitutional right of ‘freedom of expression’, this must not aim at racially dividing Guyana and its people.
“Freedom of expression does not mean spreading hate and making racist statements and trying to divide our people, making mischief in our country. That is not freedom of expression; that is trying to destroy the fabric of our society and create havoc in our country,” Ali argued.
He further posited that a lot of the persons on social media who are behind these acts are actually Guyanese living overseas, who appear bent on creating mischief. Ali contended that they must be dealt with condignly.
Only Sunday, after the last ballot box was counted, the PPP/C Presidential Candidate pleaded with Guyanese to “act in a responsible manner”, as the country awaits a formal declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of the official results; and he further pledged to govern the country for all citizens, regardless of their race and/or political affiliation.
Meanwhile during Wednesday’s meeting, the PPP/C top brass did not raise the issue of the list that was submitted by the Police Commissioner to GECOM, of persons whom the APNU/AFC Coalition alleged were not in the country but votes were cast in their names.
With some of the information submitted by the Top Cop, who is also the Chief Immigration Officer, having since been disputed, PPP/C General Secretary told reporters that the matter has already been ventilated in the public.
“We did not want this to seem as though we’re trying to deal with elections-related matters that are before the [Elections] Commission… APNU will come and say, ‘Had we raised that issue, that we were trying to influence the Commissioner of Police to withdraw his list. It has already been established in the public domain that the list is horrendously flawed. We don’t need to do much more,” Jagdeo contended.
Police Commissioner James had submitted to GECOM a list of 172 persons whom he claims were not in the country on or before March 2. However, dozens of those persons have disputed the Chief Immigration Officer’s data and claimed that not only were they in the country, but also voted on March 2.
Against this background, the PPP/C Presidential Candidate was asked whether he intends to retain James as the Top Cop, and he reiterated his party’s position of not engaging in witch-hunting.
“We are not in any witch-hunting exercise; let me make that clear. We are going to act professionally. The Commissioner has assured us that he and his team will continue to act professionally, [and] we will hold the Commissioner to his commitment,” Ali noted.