Ranks will pay for vehicles they damage
The days of daredevil driving may be over for ranks from the Guyana Police Force. That’s because of new Force regulations that will result in policemen having to foot the bill for repairs to the vehicles they damage through reckless use.
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, issued this warning on Tuesday, while handing over 56 brandnew pickups, to the Guyana Police Force. The pickups, part of a US$2.5M donation by the People’s Republic of China, will be on the road to support anti-crime patrols during the Christmas season. “Please take care of them, because too many times, I notice even senior ranks crashing; we have also had senior ranks dying as result of bad driving,” Ramjatan said. At the time he was addressing ranks at the Tactical Services Unit Drill Square. “We need not only that collective responsibility, but responsibility on the individual level as well. “A number of you might want to do (reckless) things with the vehicles (but) there are some Standard Operational Procedures that are going to be implemented, and I want you to adhere to them; and one (Standard Operational Procedure) is you damage it, and bruise it up, we are going to surcharge you. When you come and say that it’s difficult and constraining I will say ‘I warned you,’ so you are forewarned.” Ramjattan also urged the ranks to upbraid their colleagues who drive recklessly.
“This is the property of the people; you are but agents of the people; make use of the vehicles to the extent of profitable use for the purpose of service and protection. “They are still brand new. You are not going to get gifts like that regularly. It is almost $2.6M US worth of equipment that has come in so handily for the Guyana Police Force.” The Public Security Minister said that “at the very beginning” of his stewardship, he, along with Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud and “the leadership of the Force,” had worked out a plan for enhancement of the Force. “And one aspect was to ensure that we get increased assets, and of course we were getting from the budgetary allocations, but nothing like this proportion.
(Kaieteurnews.com)