The government was expected through the Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon at his weekly press conference scheduled for yesterday afternoon, (this supplement was completed before that), to comment on the allegations in the media about the involvement of Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj in the activities of a phantom gang. It is likely too that Dr Luncheon would be asked to comment on the delay in the issuance of a visa to Foreign Trade Minister Clement Rohee. The embassy has said that it has informed Rohee of the reasons why the visa has not been issued. Rohee says it has not. However, US immigration regulations provide that if a visa has not been issued by the end of the working day on which it was applied for, it is refused. But some observers say that the regulation may not apply to Rohee since in his case the application was referred to Washington DC from where it is to be issued. Rumours abound as to the reason why the US is taking its time in issuing the visa to Rohee, especially at this time when there are heightened security concerns. The government must clear the air and not allow its Minister to remain under a cloud of suspicion that hampers his freedom to travel freely on official business.

Observers say that it is unlikely that Gajraj would be asked to resign or proceed on administrative leave while the police conduct investigations into the allegations made against him unless it receives a formal statement from the person making the allegations, George Bacchus. Bacchus' brother Shafeek was gunned down earlier this month outside his Princes Street, Lodge residence. Bacchus believed he was the intended target and that prompted his disclosure to the media and to officials of the US embassy.

The Police have taken the allegations about the persons said to be involved in his brother's murder seriously enough to lay charges against three of the alleged phantom squad members on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Dr Luncheon, at a press briefing earlier this month has indicated the government's unwillingness, given the time and resources that would be involved, to investigate the claims in the absence of a formal statement. It is uncertain whether Bacchus would volunteer a formal statement since he is suspicious of the Police, some of whom he accuses of being involved in the phantom squad's activities.

Bacchus told Stabroek News in an interview earlier this month of his gang's involvement in the death of Andrew Douglas, one of the five prisoners who escaped from the Georgetown prison on February 23, 2002. The February 23, escape set off a crime wave that terrorised Georgetown and the lower East Coast as a number of daring robberies were carried out on business places and residences. There was also a wave of kidnappings which introduced a new terror which threatened the security of the country. Gajraj has dismissed Bacchus' claims as mere allegations and sees no reason to step down as Minister on the word of a confessed criminal. Gajraj has always asserted that there is no "phantom gang", a phrase coined by Dr Luncheon, and would also counsel against the establishment of such a gang since it would breed a monster that could turn back and bite those who had set it. However, he had told Current Affairs in an interview published in December 2003 issue that he was aware that there are vigilante gangs wreaking revenge for atrocities committed during the more intense period of the crime wave and that what prevented the Police from taking action was the lack of evidence.

Towards the end of last year, a number of dead bodies with gunshot wounds were found around the city and its environs. Some were said to have been involved in criminal activity, while there were no obvious reasons why the others were killed. Bacchus said that rogue members of the phantom squad were hired to kill by people who wanted to get rid of people who had wronged them.

It has also been said that some of the deaths were due to a gang war among the lords of the drug trade that has mushroomed over the last decade or so. The trade has spawned a wave of violence to which the police and the rest of society is unaccustomed. The drug lords remain beyond the pale of the law while their underlings are frequently caught trying to smuggle insignificant amounts through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport,Timehri. Not one of those caught up to now has given evidence that has led to even the arrest of any of the big fish.

There are several drug barons and the occasional fracas may break out among them but experience has shown that the operatives in the trade are wise enough to know that it is better business to keep their activities below the government's radar and to find ways of settling their differences without drawing attention to themselves.

In the face of the revelations that he has been in contact with Axel Williams, who was gunned down by an unknown gunman in December in Bel Air Park, Gajraj has raised concerns about confidentiality and national security to avoid disclosing details of his conversation with Williams, who has been accused of committing more than a dozen murders. He says too that his telephone numbers are publicly known and he has to be in contact with persons from the underworld if he is to obtain information about the activities of the criminal element in the society.

It is clear that the Police intelligence gathering is woefully inadequate and that some steps have be taken to increase its intelligence gathering capacity but this would not normally be a task for the Minister.

More disturbing is Gajraj's explanation that Williams had contacted him about obtaining a firearm licence. The issuance of firearm licences is the responsibility of the Police and the Minister has no right to be involved. There have been for some time reports of the Minister being involved in the issuing of these licences in alarming numbers. He has always denied doing so and his word has been accepted in the absence of evidence to contrary.