The Guyana Police Force Monday afternoon accused the Police Service Commission (PSC) of misleading the public about the eligibility of several members of the force for promotion.
In a statement, the force said a list of the persons recommended have been checked and no one is ineligible for promotions.
The PSC’s informing the Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud that promotions would not be made until next month has sparked off a public standoff between the two.
Persaud Monday again challenged the PSC to prove that its criteria of seniority was the best or only methodology for determining promotions. The Police Force also demanded again that the PSC prove that the law requires a qualifying examination as part of the promotions process.
Following is the full text of the statement by the Guyana Police Force:
“Further to our response made on January 01, 2016, to the Press Statement issued by the Police Service Commission in relation to the promotion of Police ranks, the Guyana Police Force wishes to inform the public that a perusal of the list of recommendations for promotion that has been submitted to the Service Commission was conducted today January 04, 2016.
This was in light of the statement made by the Chairman of the Police Service Commission where he indicated that a rank recommended for promotion is on retirement leave and that a few ranks recommended for promotion were interdicted from official duty.
The perusal has found that all Officers, Inspectors and Sergeants recommended are performing duties currently; which means that the Chairman of the Police Service Commission mislead the public when he made the statements that a rank recommended is on retirement leave and that a few ranks recommended were interdicted from official duty.
The Guyana Police Force also wishes to state that the Police Seniority List is just a list of all the ranks in an order that shows who is senior to who.
Should promotions be based on seniority alone then there would be no need for recommendations, since all that would be required is to promote the most senior rank to fill the vacancy.
The Guyana Police Force also wishes to reiterate that the Police Act Chapter 16:01 makes no mention of Police Appropriate Qualifying Examinations.”
