UK presents Govt with findings of “needs assessment”

Security sector reform

Following an assessment conducted by the United Kingdom Government with the aim of reviving the Security Sector Reform Programme here, the final analysis was handed over to the Government of Guyana.
The document was presented to President David Granger by UK Minister of Africa, Caribbean and Overseas Territories, James Duddridge, who is currently on a familiarisation tour in the Caribbean as part of Britain’s renewed efforts to strengthen relations with the Caribbean Region.
Duddridge, also a UK Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East, has already had a series of meetings with local stakeholders such as the business sector, human rights groups particularly those concerned with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT)

community, and politicians among others.
Back in October, British High Commissioner to Guyana Gregory Quinn confirmed that the UK was assisting Guyana with reviving the Programme, but noted that before it could kick into effect, a new assessment would have to done on the security sector in Guyana since the country has changed significantly since the last assessment was done.
That assessment has been completed and during a press briefing with local media operatives on Tuesday, Quinn noted that the analysis would be handed over to Government later in the day when the British Minister was expected to meet the Head of State. 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 maintained that even though his Government took responsibility of the assessment, the final say as to the next step was in the hands of the Guyanese Government. He noted that once Government would have considered the contents of the assessment, then it would say what it wanted the UK to help it with.
“This is not a case of us producing a report and saying ‘this is what you’re going to do and this is when you’re going to do it and this is how you’re going to do it’. It’s ‘here is the situation, we’re here to help you on this and we’ll come and talk to you, after you digest the report, to see what the next steps are in terms of what we can do,” Quinn explained.
Meanwhile, Minister Duddridge added that the UK stood “ready” to help the Guyanese Government to take on some of the actions contained in the analysis and have expertise on hand to assist. Additionally, he pointed out that international partners were also there to help since the UK may not be readily available as it relates to proximity and availability of resources and so on.
The US$4.7 million Security Sector pact 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 security reform programme, saying that aspects of the project threatened to intrude 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.
During the October 2015 briefing, High Commissioner Quinn was asked whether his Government would continue to push for its demands or would take a back-seat approach going forward this time around. He responded that there were no attempts to make any imposition on Guyana or any of the Caribbean countries as a matter of fact.
He had explained the claims made by the previous Administration that the UK was seeking to impose or basically run Guyanese law enforcement were without basis.
“There was no attempt or desire on our part. I think it was a fundamental misunderstanding of the programme in the first place. This is not about us imposing a certain way or a certain series or certain specific project on any of the countries… We are not imposing, we are not seeking to impose,” he had posited.