One year after it was announced that the United Kingdom (UK) will revive the multimillion-dollar Security Sector Reform Action Plan (SSRAP) here, works to have the project rolled out are processing, as such, Guyana will be welcoming a security advisor from Great Britain to assist in its implementation.
British High Commissioner Greg Quinn
British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn, told Guyana Times on Friday that the process is currently ongoing to recruit the advisor who will be in Guyana for a one-year programme.
“The programme will be guided by the President and what the President wants to do; but it will be focusing on the broader needs and security sector reforms,” the UK Diplomat explained.
The High Commissioner could not say exactly when the security advisor is expected here; however, a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency on Friday evening revealed that the expert would arrive in Guyana in November.
“As the Government continues to address the incidence of crime in Guyana, the country will be welcoming a security advisor from the United Kingdom (UK) next month, who will be working closely with the Administration on the implementation of the Security Sector Reform Action Plan (SSRAP),” the release outlined.
Moreover, High Commissioner Quinn explained to this newspaper on Friday that over the past year, a lot of ground has been covered as it relates to restoring the Security Sector Reform Action Plan.
“There is a variety of other people who have been out working on various bits on the broader security sector reform. There is a team that has been looking at immigration, on Police… so there is a selection of different groups and different sort of people, who are working on specific areas of the security sector reform,” the top UK envoy stated. Since assuming office in May 2015, President David Granger had indicated that his Administration is intent on having the SSRAP reintroduced and has since met with former UK Prime Minister David Cameron and High Commissioner Quinn on the matter. He believes every facet of the local security sector will be strengthened under the UK-funded action plan.
“I would say (that) in the last 16 months we have covered a lot of ground to restore the Security Sector (Reform) Action Plan as fast as we could; and within weeks it is going to be happening,” the President said in a previous interview.
The Security Sector Reform Programme (SSRP) was launched in 2007 but was scrapped two years later, after major disagreements between the then Bharrat Jagdeo Administration and the UK Government over some of the conditions of the plan. Guyana virtually walked away from the programme, saying that aspects of the project threatened to encroach on this country’s sovereignty. However, the British had contended then that the Guyana Government proposed a “fundamentally different” programme, focused on Police modernisation rather than the holistic reform originally requested.
The UK’s proposed project had aimed to build a sustainable foundation for improving national security and reducing serious crime in Guyana by 2011.
However, after it was agreed last year that the programme will be revived, it was noted that before the process can kick into effect, a new assessment will have to be done on the security sector in Guyana as its dynamics would have changed significantly since the last assessment was done.
That assessment has been completed and the analysis handed over to Government back in May.The analysis focuses on the current state of the local security sector and contains an action plan going forward, as well as how the UK government can assist in executing the plan.
However, the British High Commissioner had pointed out that even though his Government took responsibility of the assessment, the final say as to the next step lies in the hands of the Guyanese Government. He noted that once Government would have considered the contents of the assessment, then they would say what they want the UK to help them with.
