|
Jagdeo dissatisfied with security forces
Orders of the Commander-in-Chief to “clean out the
situation in Buxton” failed to produce desired results
Georgetown
— The Guyana Government has made several efforts to address the
spiraling crime situation in the country to combat which it has given
all it could in terms of policies, resources and morale support to the
 law
enforcement agencies. But these have all failed to yield positive
results, the president informed the Guyanese people at an interview
with the Government Information Agency (GINA) over the last weekend.
President Jagdeo admitted that he is not satisfied with the work of the
security forces in their handling of the crime that has bedevilled the
country in the recent past. So Mr Jagdeo is calling on the security
agencies to “rethink their strategies.”
Referring to the stranglehold that bandits have exerted on the East Coast
village of Buxton that has now become a hatchery for myriad crimes,
the president admitted to have instructed the law enforcement agencies
“to clean out the situation at Buxton.”
Mr Jagdeo denied the suggestion that he had requested the army and the
police to “hold back” on fighting crime, particularly in that crime
infested village. But the president rejoined: “I’ve made my orders
clear. It’s either that these orders are not handed down or some
people on the ground are involved in things they should not be
involved in” adding, “if a crime is being committed and a soldier says
he does not have orders, that’s wrong; he should not be in the army.”
The Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces declared: “I’ve made it
clear what I wanted ... to clean out the situation in Buxton.”
The president said he passed on directions to this effect to the Minister
of Home Affairs, Ronald Gajraj, the Commissioner of Police (ag), Floyd
McDonald and Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier
Michael Atherly.
Mr. Jagdeo stated that he was confident the police and the army have the
capacity to tackle the criminals. “I am very unhappy that is not being
done,” he lamented.
The President expressed optimism that the presence in Guyana of members
of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will shed some
“positive light” on the situation. The FBI has been in the country
since the kidnapping of the US diplomat earlier this month.
|
FBI investigating kidnap incident of US diplomat
Georgetown — Officials from the US Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are in Guyana conducting investigations
along with other US-based investigators into the kidnapping of US
Diplomat Stephen Lesniak.
Lesniak, the Regional Security Officer (RSO) of
the US Embassy, was snatched by two armed teenagers just after 9:00
a.m. on April12, 2003 while playing at the Lusignan Golf Course on the
East Coast Demerara. Reports in the local press indicate that a ransom
of $12 million was paid by American friends of Lesniak for his release
and that the money was handed over on the East Coast. He was taken to
Buxton, the epicenter of crime in Guyana over the past year, where it
is reported he was paraded in front of some villagers with a gun to
his head. Lesniak was released unharmed on the same night around 7:30
pm, after an intense military operation on the East Coast.
Click here for continuation:
Why ‘Indian Rights’ in Guyana?
It’s
an oddity that a majority population should have to agitate for
"rights", yet everyone in Guyana is comfortable with the Indian rights
label that has been attached to GIHA. Everyone uses it and no one
questions it. The advocacy and agitation for "rights" are usually
applied to minority groups within a society who are targets for
discrimination. There are Black rights activists in the United States
where African Americans are a minority, and Aborigines in Australia
are in a struggle for their civil rights as are Indigenous Indians in
North America.
 It
says a lot about the accepted status for Indians in Guyana that the
Indian rights activist label is used, and so very comfortably by all.
Even President Bharrat Jagdeo during our meeting with him last
September referred to us by this term. He or anyone else has never
stopped to ponder the implications. The PPP/C Government is in office
because of the majority voting power of Indians in Guyana – that is
fact – yet the head of the PPP/C Government acknowledges the need for
Indian rights activism in Guyana!
Click here
for continuation:
|
Hard words for govt on kidnapping surge
By Sandra Chouthi
Special to Indo Caribbean World
Port-of-Spain — While the government is
facing stiff criticism from all quarters in society about incidents of
kidnapping, the Opposition UNC is refusing to support anti-kidnapping
legislation in Parliament.
Gregory Aboud, president of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association
(DOMA) last week told Panday: “I have noted with great interest the
fact that you are concerned about constitutional reform, and that you
have made this the main issue of your desire to participate in
collaboration on the question of crime. But let me point out that we
may not have a Constitution to reform if we don’t stop the criminals.”
Click here for continuation:
Tobago concerned about SARS
Port-of-Spain —
Chief secretary of the Tobago
House of Assembly, Orville London, has admitted there remains cause
for concern over the threat of the highly-contagious virus, Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome, hitting the island. However, London said
Tobago is "not panicking, but preparing" for whatever is to come from
the disease.
Click here for continuation:
Government agrees to support ailing BWIA
Port-of-Spain —The government has
confirmed support for the formation of a regional airline and has
agreed to lend cash-strapped BWIA (TT) $116.8 million to keep the
national carrier flying. But it is with the condition that the board
of directors review the performance of the Conrad Aleong-led BWIA
management team.
Cabinet last week agreed to support the formation
of a regional airline involving the merging of debt-ridden carriers
BWIA and Liat.
Envisioned is a carrier that would service the
southern and eastern Caribbean, Information Minister Dr Lenny Saith
told reporters at a post-Cabinet briefing at Whitehall. He was
accompanied by Minister in the Ministry of Finance Kenneth Valley and
Transport Minister Franklyn Khan.
Click here for
continuation:
|
Headlines
Continued