Dear Editor,
In an earlier letter I wrote in the media of my “choke and rob” ordeal at the hands of some thugs in the Georgetown area. During that traumatic experience I lost my Guyana passport, with which I normally conduct business when I am in Guyana. Now, on my visit this summer to my homeland, I sought to get a new passport as a replacement of the stolen one. That new passport requires me getting a report from the Police department, and this is when my troubles began.
I visited the Brickdam Location where the initial report was made to get a statement for the immigration department. My first visit to the Police began in the second week of July, when I was told that I have to get another report written up on the theft.
That statement took half a day for write up (no exaggeration). In fact, at the end of the write up when I was asked to read the details, it was so riddled with errors that I stated to the officer that “it would take another half of a day to rectify, if the English in that text should be taken into consideration.” Anyway, I signed the badly worded statement and was told to return one week later.
I visited Brickdam five consecutive weeks thereafter and could not uplift that report. I left Guyana on August 28 and still cannot get a report to process a Guyana passport. Is this the new and improved, professional -whatever the terms Crime Chief Blanhum speaks about? Well, come to think of it, if that report should go to court I shudder to think what would be my fate if the accused person has a firebrand lawyer?
With a report of that level of “intelligence” I believe that I, the victim, might very well become the convicted one for making scandalous statements against the accused. And this is my main problem with these wayward political statements made by the Crime Chief; would anyone take those words seriously when you have a Police Force who cannot effectively communicate -written or verbal- in the official language of this country? What if?
We are far away from a force that can barely be considered “improved”. The Police need training, no question about that, serious training as to how to communicate, far more to write a true and fool proof report. And I hasten to add that I am willing to offer my services when I retire here from my teaching job in St Lucia. But I also hasten to add, I would like to do so free from “political interference”.
This is the main problem that is hurting the Police Force in Guyana, the heavy political domination coming from central government. I am absolutely sure Blanhum was cognizant of the fact that he was talking trash when he made that statement. But politically correct he was in the eyes of the PNC led Coalition, which is a party that “owns and controls” the predominantly Black Police Force.
So we cannot overemphasise the point that the Police Force in Guyana needs proper training for us to get anywhere near using the word “professionalism” or before it can be inculcated into their vocabulary.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Adams
