--
Luncheon reports
There
will now be 24-hour
patrols and permanent security personnel
in those villages affected by criminal elements from Buxton
By
Chamanlall Naipaul
BARRIER: Sukhmangal Bassant,
50, of
Sand Reef, Annandale is seen blocking the entrance to
his street yesterday with the limbs/branches of a large
tamarind tree which he cut down from his yard. Gunmen
from Buxton crossed over the dam (dirt road) separating
Buxton and Annandale and robbed and terrorised Bassant
and his family twice in one week - last Monday and
Sunday.
A
gun
The gunmen beat
him in the head with a gun, terrorised his 76-year-old
mother, Ann Bassant, and
beat his daughter, Dolly, kicking
her twice in the stomach. They
also tried to strip his wife in the latest attack.
The bandits
robbed the poor family of their 14" television set,
cash and jewellery. A very frustrated and fed up Bassant
said he decided to chop down a tamarind tree which was
in his yard and use the branches to form
a blockage at the head of the street, opposite his
house, which the bandits normally use to attack and
terrorise him and his neighbours.
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CABINET
yesterday continued
its assessment of the impact of the law enforcement agencies
on the current crime situation, and acknowledged that the
persistent concerns about raids and robberies raised by
residents of communities neighbouring Buxton on the East Coast
Demerara are being addressed.
Speaking
at his weekly post-Cabinet briefing yesterday, Head of the
Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger
Luncheon said that additional security measures
have been implemented in the neighbouring villages to deal
with the heightened criminal activities
being perpetrated by elements from Buxton.
He
said ministers and officials of the Government have been
visiting the affected communities to identify, in conjunction
with residents, the most advantageous measures that should be
implemented.
Consequently,
the law enforcement agencies now have 24-hour patrols and
permanently stationed security personnel in the villages
neighbouring Buxton.
"The number of criminals and criminal activities has not
reflected a diminution. They keep growing. Large amounts of
weapons have been recovered regularly, but they continue
coming. I must concede that this is a severe and unprecedented
challenge." -- Dr. Luncheon
He noted that `Operation Saline Solution', which was last year
launched by the Joint Services
on the East Coast to prevent the uninhibited movement of
criminals to and from Georgetown, and out of Georgetown,
produced certain developments, which were not anticipated.
These
developments included increased attacks on the neighbouring
villages.
As
a result, there have been modifications to the security
operations to counter the attacks in the other villages.
"Originally,
it sought to eliminate or markedly restrict the movement of
criminals in and out of Buxton," Luncheon pointed out.
"`Operation
Saline Solution 2', which saw a more formidable presence
of security personnel along the corridors of East Coast
Demerara, was intended to cut down the forays into
communities.
"But
it led to unanticipated outcomes. Among them were organised
community responses to searches," he said.
Touching
on the issue of the increasing number of security personnel
being murdered by criminals, the top Government official said
additional measures have been implemented to "improve
security of operational members
of the law enforcement agencies to and from their places of
abode, so as to help improve the morale within the security
forces".
He
gave the assurance that external assistance
in the crime fight is being sought in the areas of planning,
reform activities and other discrete and specific activities,
which have not been implemented as yet.
Luncheon,
however, emphasised that because of the complexity of the
present crime wave, there will be no easy solution.
This
is because while the security forces have been countering the
criminals, their numbers seem to be increasing continuously.
"The
number of criminals and criminal activities has not reflected
a diminution. They keep growing. Large amounts of weapons have
been recovered regularly, but they continue coming.
"I
must concede that this is a severe and unprecedented
challenge," he stated.
In
response to a question on how successful has been the crime
fight in terms of numbers of captures and arrests made, he
said: "So fundamental has been this challenge, trying to
identify successes in terms of numbers, is perhaps too
simplistic an outlook."
In
response to the suggestion of the possible imposition of a
curfew in the troubled villages, Luncheon said that Cabinet
has reservations, based on past experiences, in relation to
its implementation and enforcement.
He
added that Cabinet's emphasis is on "highly mobile
patrols".
Asked
about the location of the electronic surveillance equipment
that was alleged to have entered the country illegally, he
said: "I have been advised that it is being used by the
Police in crime fighting."
He
did not elaborate.
Luncheon
also announced that the report of the Steering Committee on
the public consultations on crime, which were conducted during
the fourth quarter of last year in most of the administrative
Regions, will be presented to the Office of the President
tomorrow.
The
Chairman of the Committee, Bishop Juan Edghill, is expected to
make the presentation of the report.
He
noted that the consultations provided an opportunity for
members of various communities to make their contributions
particularly in the handling of the crime wave and the roles
of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force
(GPF).
