Encounters were held with religious groups and the private sector.

President Bharrat Jagdeo held meetings with members of the Private Sector Commission, the Guyana Manufacturers Association, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry and other interested groups at the Office of the President.
While the meetings featured discussions generally on the industry, crime also came up for discussion.

On September 18, he met the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association and on September 11, the Essequibo Chambers of Commerce.

President Jagdeo met members from the Guyana Council of Churches on July 23 and on July 26, he held discussions with members of the Hindu community. Three days later a similar meeting was held between the President and members of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana.

On July 27, President Jagdeo initiated a National Consultation on Crime, which was held at the Ocean View Convention Centre. Arising out of this meeting was the formation of a National Steering Committee.

Public consultations were conducted countrywide and recommendations gathered from various target groups, which are being compiled into a report for President Jagdeo.

The consultations were aimed at appraising the public on strategies employed by the law enforcement agencies and soliciting recommendations to aid in the fight against crime.

The recommendations served to acquaint law enforcement agencies with public opinion on the crime situation.

Many of the recommendations were considered and are now part of the Government's anti-crime response.

Consultations with various groups are still continuing as the Administration seeks to build national consensus on the crime situation.

To date, several mechanisms have been implemented to deal with the crime situation in the country.

These initiatives included the allocation of $100M to the Guyana Police Force to improve its weaponry, protective equipment and gear, transportation and communication facilities. This sum is in addition to the capital budgetary allocation made by the Government to the Police Force in the 2002 National Budget.

An identical sum of money will be allocated to the Force in 2003 and 2004 in addition to the Force's capital budget, to upgrade weaponry and other equipment.

A comprehensive reform of the intelligence sector to strengthen intelligence gathering and analysis and dissemination to support the fight against crime, narcotics trafficking, and threats to internal security is being instituted. This will be accompanied by improvements in the investigative capacity of the Criminal Investigation Department.

The establishment of a specialised training centre where Police ranks and other law enforcement officers would be exposed on a continuous basis to modern anti-crime tactics and methods and leadership skills, particularly in the use of modern weapons, will now be a feature of the standard training programme of all law enforcement personnel.

A Special Force along the lines of a 'SWAT' team will be set up to complement the existing unit. A large group of specially-trained officers and ranks will form this task force and will respond mainly to these new forms of criminal activities.

Community Policing Groups will benefit immediately from the creation of a dedicated unit within the Office of the Commissioner of Police, for which adequate funding will be provided.

A complete review of existing legislation on crime, which is intended to lead to the introduction of new laws and to increase existing penalties for criminal activities and to make prosecution and conviction of criminals easier, will be implemented. The anti-crime Bills were passed in Parliament last month and now form part of our statutes.

The issuance of gun licences to qualified citizens is being accelerated, especially for the business community and an enhanced welfare package for law enforcement personnel is being provided to meet occupational risks. Twenty million dollars were placed in a fund to be controlled by the Police Force for the dependents of Policemen and women who are killed in encounters with criminals.

Additionally, annual allocations will be made to this fund. The sum of $1M was provided immediately to each of the families of the ten Law Enforcement Officers killed in the recent crime wave.