PNC/R condemns Coldingen attack, death of cop
Stabroek News
May 31, 2002
The PNC/R yesterday condemned the recent attack on four policemen on the East Coast Demerara, which resulted in the death of police constable Sherwin Alleyne and injuries to three other police ranks.
It described the May 25 attack on the policemen as "indicative of a disturbing and dangerous trend which is understandably the cause of much public unease, and a challenge to the ingenuity and capacity of our law enforcement agencies."
PNC/R Parliamentarian, Jerome Khan, at a Congress Place press conference expressed his party's "profound sympathy to the relatives of Constable Alleyne and to the officers and ranks of the Guyana Police Force."
He said, too, that the PNC/R "prays for the full and speedy recovery of the other officers wounded in the deadly attack" and is at the same time hoping that "every effort will be made to speedily apprehend the perpetrators of this vile act and subject them to the full weight of the law."
PNC/R Chairman, Robert Corbin, rejected the statements by Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, that some leaders of the party were in contact with the five escapees.
He charged that the Cabinet Secretary was compromising the work of the police and if he had evidence of the involvement of PNC/R leaders, he should turn it over to the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
PNC/R parliamentarian Lance Carberry had also called on the Cabinet Secretary to pass the alleged evidence involving the PNC/R leaders and the escapees to the police when he was contacted on Wednesday about the allegation.
Khan yesterday accused the government of undermining the morale and professionalism of the police "by continuing to deny them the tools and other resources to enable them to deliver the professional and competent service and protection which all Guyanese desire and deserve."
He reiterated the PNC/R's claim that "the heavy-handed and confrontational approach of the 'Black Clothes' (Anti Crime Task Force) police are not only of questionable legality, but have alienated the force from significant sections of the community thus robbing it of community support which is one of the essential elements of successful policing."
Khan said that the statements by the government officials "are a mere smokescreen to distract public attention from the regime's responsibility for deliberately limiting the resources it has put at the disposal of the GPF and its brazen use of the 'Black Clothes' to provide protection, enforcement and other sinister services for its friends".
Corbin called the government's statements political propaganda intended to divert the public's attention away from its inability to deal effectively with the situation. Reiterating his party's stand on crime, Corbin observed that crime was not a respecter of race as it "affects every citizen."