Corentyne Chamber calls for army intel, foreign experts to assist “impotent” authorities in crime fight

Last Updated on Saturday, 9 January 2016, 13:46 by Denis Chabrol

The Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Saturday called for  foreign experts and the Intelligence Branch of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to  team up and help police go after criminals in Berbice where “ruthless killers” have been attacking residents.

“Let the army put under surveillance known criminals and help the police to bring some semblance of order to this country,” said the business organization.

The CCC seized the opportunity to criticize the use of GDF intelligence agents to target law abiding citizens, in clear reference to army sergeant Robert Pyle who was killed in a road accident while chasing after Alana Seebarran and her brother because they erroneously had thought that they were members of the Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investment (NICIL).

“It is indeed a travesty that the army intelligence officers are pursuing law abiding citizens in movie type chases instead of these criminals,”  the Chamber said in a statement.

Saying that the crime situation in Berbice was out of control and that criminals were being butchered  in their homes without any protection from the authorities , the Chamber said it would not demand that Khemraj Ramjattan resign from the post of Public Security as he had done when the People’s Progressive Party  Civic’s Clement Rohee was at the helm of the national security sector.

The Chamber  charged that Ramjattan and the government appeared “impotent to arrest the situation” and the time has come for government to seek foreign assistance  to among other things smash narco-trafficking rings.

“Go in the villages and towns and dismantle the local drug networks. We need results and not more plans from the Government. It is time to get international assistance in the form of specialist personnel and modern technology in intelligence gathering and more advanced and innovative policing,” said the Chamber.

The CCC said it was unimpressed by President David Granger merely dismissing the recent army action that resulted in three deaths on December 30, 2015. “We need an explanation why ordinary citizens were treated in this manner, especially given what we experienced in the seventies and eighties coupled with a recent announcement of the resuscitating of the People’s Militia,” said the business organization.

The Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce’s concern about the spate of crime came just hours after a businessman and his wife were killed during the pre-dawn hours of Saturday at their Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice residence. Three persons have since been arrested.