Missing army weapons must be recovered by whatever means necessary
-President tells commissioning parade
Stabroek News
December 7, 2006
The loss of a large number of army weapons continues to tarnish the good reputation of the GDF and they should be recovered by whatever means necessary, President Bharrat Jagdeo said in his address yesterday to the batch of new Army Officers during the Commissioning Parade of the 39th Standard Officers Course.
Earlier this year 30 AK-47s and several hand guns were discovered missing from Camp Ayanganna and only some have been recovered. To date no one has been charged in this matter.
Proud family members and friends of the new army officers came together yesterday afternoon to see them on the Drill Square in the army headquarters compound, Camp Ayanganna.
The officers who successfully completed this year's standard officers course are Budeshwar Persaud, Dwaad Cambridge, Wayne De Heart, Denolle Sankar, Damon Joseph, Darrius Ramos, Andrew Lewis, Mirza Sahied, Kevin Pilgrim, Kesha Aaron, Lancelot Gordon, Ronald Gonsalves, Jermaine Newton, Wayne Richmond, Duane Rigby, Marlo Rodrigues, Jason Farley, Richardo Mc Curchin, Ralph Gould, Rickford Warden, Radford Baizar, Lionel Olivera, David Allen, Winston Harper, Dawn Robertson, Ron Williams and Calvin Brutus.
Ramos, Baizar, Olivera and Rodrigues came from the Belizean army while the rest were from the local military forces.
Nineteen-year-old Budeshwar Persaud is this year's best student on the GDF Standard Officers' Course. In this Jules Gibson photo, Persaud receives the Presidential Sword of Honour from President Bharrat Jagdeo. (See story on page 13.)
Jagdeo in his address congratulated the officers for reaching such a milestone in their lives. He pleaded with them to fulfil the promise that is expected from them and be a shining example to all of society.
The president reminded the new officers about Amar Rajkumar who lost his life while participating in this year's course and charged that it is the responsibility of all to find out the true reason for his death. Two persons were charged in connection with his death.
The President assured the public that the joint services operation would continue until it is no longer needed. The joint services, Jagdeo said, will play an important role in security for next year's Cricket World Cup.
The Guyana Defence Force commenced training of its own Officer Cadets in 1969. After 12 years, the Officer Cadet Division of Training Corps evolved into the first Officer Cadet School in the English speaking Caribbean. It was named the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School (CUPOCS) in honour of Colonel Ulric Pilgrim, the first local commander of the Force. The school was established in a simple ceremony on September 22, 1981.
The role of the school is to train young potential leaders of the various Disciplined Services to serve their country. The main aims of the training are to develop good character and powers of leadership, instill qualities of discipline, initiative and self-confidence and teach the duties of citizenship, loyalty and patriotism.
Among those present at yesterday's ceremony were Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Brigadier General Edward Collins.