Greater integration of joint services transport capabilities- Ali

Last Updated on Monday, 8 January 2024, 12:07 by Denis Chabrol

President Irfaan Ali on Monday announced, at the sod turning for the new US$28.1 million Brickdam Police Station,  that the Joint Services transport capabilities would be strengthened and integrated.

“What we are doing is creating an integrated joint services in terms of its asset positioning and its asset base,” he said. He explained that the helicopter, marine craft and the wide range of land vehicles.

He said the Guyana Police Force would for the first time build out a marine division that could use river assets in positioning, pro-active crime-fighting and intelligence gathering. “Right now, we are in the process of acquiring state-of-the art marine assets to support the work of the Guyana Police Force,” he said in his address to mark the formal start of the construction of the 12-storey building that would house the ‘A’ Division headquarters and the Brickdam Police Station.

Dr Ali stated once again that the GPF would be equipped with aircraft that would be housed at a hangar that is being constructed by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) at the Eugene F. Correia ‘Ogle’ International Airport. He said the police force’s airwing “would be integrated with the Guyana Defence Force.”

“We hope in that hangar to not only add to the air capability and capacity of the Guyana Defence Force but to add modern pieces of equipment to support the air division of the Guyana Police Force,” he said. He said the equipment would include a helicopter and drones.

President Ali said the GDF’s modernisation would focus “border consolidation” by focussing on the repositioning and acquisition of assets, infrastructure and people. The defence force’s hardware and software, he said would be integrated to strengthen its mobility and accessibility across Guyana.

Meanwhile, after the new Brickdam Police Station/ ‘A’ Division Headquarters building is completed in another 30 months, the President said many departments would be moved from the Eve Leary-based national headquarters to Brickdam to facilitate the expansion of the Guyana Police Force’s Academy.

He said the “world class” Academy’s expansion is aimed at not only training Guyanese police but also law enforcers from other Caribbean countries. “We’re building a Police Academy to serve all of this region. When I said our prosperity must lead to the regional prosperity, this is what I meant. Building our capacity to be leaders not only in Guyana but in the region so that we can have officers, we can have youngsters joining the Police Academy here in Guyana and then working throughout the region,” he said.

The President said the entire police system would be digitised and automated to “remove the human bias in our security architecture” that would allow for traceability and accountability.

The colonial-era wooden building that housed the Brickdam Police Station and ‘A’ Division Headquarters was destroyed by fire on October 2, 2021.