Cops get new vehicles
Guyana Chronicle
November 1, 2006
THE Police Force has received 45 spanking new vehicles, worth some $108M, from the Government to boost its fleet.
They were formally handed over by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee to Police Commissioner Henry Greene at a brief ceremony yesterday on the tarmac of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) square at force headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown.
Mr Rohee said the vehicles will strengthen the capacity of the Police Force to respond quickly and efficiently to activities within its mandate and scope.
He also said the vehicles are aimed at making late Police responses something of the past and making rapid responses something of the present and future.
Rohee also called on the Police Force to ensure there is preventative maintenance of these vehicles so that they are always roadworthy and effectively and efficiently utilized.
In accepting what he termed a “great gift”, Commissioner Greene thanked Rohee and the Government for the gesture and assured that the vehicles will be efficiently and effectively used by the force in carrying out its mandate of service and protection to all.
Only 29 of the 45 vehicles provided by the Government were on display yesterday.
“As you know, we are a very busy force and several of the Double-Cabs (pick-ups) and also the two Land Rovers are already in use and that is the reason why they were not made available here today,” Greene explained.
Thanking the Home Affairs Minister and reiterating his assurances that these vehicles will be put to good use, Greene alluded to the packed programme of activities over the coming months, including the year-end Christmas season patrols which will commence in two weeks and continue into the new year, Mashramani, the Rio Summit to be held here next February and the major Cricket World Cup 2007 event.
“There will be quite a lot of dignitaries and quite a lot of use and work for these vehicles,” Greene said, noting that some will be used as escorts wherever needed.
SEIZED VEHICLES
Two vehicles (a canter truck and a 4x4) and a boat were parked on the TSU square yesterday, a few feet away from the new vehicles handed over to the Police, and when questioned by the media, Greene said these were seized sometime ago and are under investigation.
According to him, the boat and the canter truck were found on the East Bank Demerara and there are questions to be answered about the ownership of the vehicle and boat.
The canter truck had a ‘Dreamworks’ sign on the door, the company owned by embattled Guyanese businessman Roger Khan who is under tight security in the United States facing charges of conspiring to traffic narcotics into that country.
Greene said since the boat and the truck were seized, no one has come forward to claim them.
He also noted no one has come forward to claim the 4x4 vehicle found on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.
Greene said the Police have the name and address of the alleged owner of the 4x4 vehicle but have been unable to track him down.
Asked what the force can or will do with these vehicles and many more that it has seized, the Commissioner noted that there are “several options”, including disposing of them.
He noted that Section 69 of the Police Act gives the Police the option to dispose of any vehicles in its possession for which the ownership is not clear or which is unclaimed.
“Those that would fall under the Guyana Revenue Authority would be those that are not registered and those vehicles that their duties have not been paid,” Greene said, adding that some of those at CID headquarters would be vehicles for which duties have been paid, but the appropriate taxes in terms of consumption and purchase taxes were not paid and therefore those vehicles were not registered.
He noted that in many instances, the matters were referred to the GRA which in turn has asked the Police Force to detain the vehicles.
The owners are then notified of what has to be paid and once that is done, they can proceed to uplift their vehicles, he explained.