GGMC says it's looking after 'outpost' police
Stabroek News
January 9, 2004
The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) says that it provides meals and accommodation as well as a $300 out-of-pocket allowance to police ranks manning checkpoints at interior locations.
The GGMC announcement was in response to a report carried on Prime News on Friday in which it was claimed that it owes police ranks assigned to security checkpoints in mining districts.
In a Government Information Agency (GINA) release on Monday, a source at the commission said the agency provided meals and accommodation for the ranks, a task which it was not obliged to do.
According to the release, the Prime News newscast on Friday quoted a Tactical Services Unit (TSU) rank as alleging "that the mines commission is responsible for outstanding allowances to the police who were assigned as part of the joint GGMC/ Police team set up last August, to combat the infiltration of criminal elements into the mining districts."
The GGMC source said, "that since the institution of security measures at mining districts at Upper and Mid-Mazaruni, along with the North West District, the commission has been providing meals and accommodation for ranks.
The source said ranks were also given a daily out-of-pocket allowance of $300.
According to the GGMC source, the commission was not in a position nor was it obligated to pay additional sums to the police ranks, since they were mandated and paid "to serve and protect citizens of Guyana".
Joint security initiatives between the GGMC and the police were enforced last year, following fatal attacks in mining districts in the Mazaruni area, the release said.