PNC/R must distance itself from criminals - Jagdeo
Acknowledges more intelligence needed in crime fight
By Daniel DaCosta
Stabroek News
October 23, 2002
President Bharrat Jagdeo says the PNC/R must distance itself from criminals and he wants the party to call on the people of Buxton not to provide safe havens for them.
He said he finds it laughable when the Opposition PNC/R claims that the government is not doing enough and a consensus with them is required to stop the crime wave.
"If they are implying that they can stop it, then they are saying they're involved in it. The opposition politicians have a political motive by encouraging crime in Buxton and not condemning it. If the leader of the PNC/R (Desmond Hoyte) says he needs $250 million (for Buxton) or there will be no peace without one word of condemnation, it means that they see this as beneficial politically."
In a wide-ranging interview on Little Rock Television Station [LRTVS] Channel 10, in New Amsterdam, last Saturday, during a two-day visit to East Berbice, President Jagdeo said "there is fear in the city, because people of all political persuasions are affected."
He accused the opposition PNC/R of enhancing this fear since "by this they hope that the PPP/C will miraculously run out of office and resign and hand the Government over to them. This is not going to happen," he asserted, "because we see this as part of a bigger design."
He called on the PNC/R to distance itself from the criminals and say to the people of Buxton, "do not provide a safe haven for criminals and do not terrorise the ordinary people of the village."
Referring to the claims by the PNC/R that the cause of the crime in Buxton is poverty, the Head of State admitted that poverty could cause crime but argued that "there is poverty across the country but why (are) the (other) affected communities ... not harbouring criminals. But you see it is not only poverty ...it is poverty combined with politics."
Asked about concerns and speculation over possible collusion between some law enforcement officers and criminals, the President remarked that "there are leakages and we do not have enough intelligence on the criminals. Some of the leakages may be accidental but some people have fears that they may be coming from some policemen or soldiers and this may be complicating the problem also."
On one occasion, he noted, a planned raid on Buxton had to be cancelled because the people in the village knew about it beforehand.
According to Jagdeo, "there is also a great deal of political interference and cover for the crimes being committed but inspite of the difficulties we have had some good success."
He said that he had no doubt that the law enforcement officers will soon get on top of the situation but noted that politics was complicating the situation with divided loyalties.
The call by some for the government to solicit foreign troops to assist the police in their fight against crime was dismissed by Jagdeo as foolish.
"No Caribbean country, the United Kingdom, the United States of America or Canada would send policemen or troops to Guyana. They will probably give you a few advisers but will not send policemen to solve our crimes."
What about declaring a limited state of emergency or a curfew? "It will disadvantage ordinary people more than criminals. If you introduce it and cannot defend or enforce it then you become weaker than before. If you cannot defend it because of political action, what happens? If the PNC leader and a large group of his supporters decide to break the curfew what do you do?"
Many Berbicians, he said, had urged him during his visit to accelerate the process of decentralization so that the services they now have to travel to Georgetown to access would be available in Berbice.
"Passports, birth certificates, land titles, death certificates should all be accessible in Berbice, even wharves to facilitate the importation of goods and machinery. Two years ago I announced if the business community was desirous of constructing wharves, they will be afforded land at a nominal value and tax holidays while all equipment brought in for construction will be allowed to enter tax free. This would eventually make the counties a little more self-reliant."
Among some of the issues discussed during the one-hour-long live programme were: the stalled dialogue between him and Hoyte, ethnic insecurities, the fears of Berbicians, planned development projects for Regions Five and Six, including GUYSUCO's Skeldon Estate expansion project, the economy, regional and local government issues, agriculture and the performance of officials and contractors in the region.
"The writing is on the wall," he noted, "for some politicians who think in this day and age they can support criminals and get away with it. They seem not to realise that the criminals could turn against them since they do not have any loyalties."
According to the Head of State, "There is too much bitterness in the hearts of politicians today. They have to give the younger people a chance because they have a future in the country. Unfortunately the older folks in the PNC/R have already lived their lives...we still have our lives to live and we have to think about our children. However some people seem not to care about the future. The country could be destroyed overnight and they just wouldn't care," he remarked.
"I am not prepared to give up power outside of the ballot box. If they think all of this will lead to that...they are mistaken ...we are not succumbing," Jagdeo asserted.