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…receives pledge of support from Region’s leaders
A Joint Services team with representation from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) met the Region One Regional Administration on Thursday to ensure that the rape allegations over the past week are being thoroughly investigated.
It was recently reported that five GDF ranks are currently the subject of a police investigation into an allegation of rape. They were withdrawn from Mabaruma, North West, even as the GDF launched a Board of Inquiry into the incident.
Added to that, mere days later, another member of Guyana’s law enforcement was entangled in a rape allegation after a woman from the North West District filed a report that she was raped by a police officer from the district while she was under the influence of alcohol.
Leading the visiting team were Colonel Julius Skeete of the GDF and Clifton Hicken, Assistant Commissioner of Police/Deputy Commissioner Operations (ag).
They met with Regional Chairman, Brentnol Ashley; Vice-Chair, Annasha Peters; Regional Executive Officer (REO), Tikaram Bisesar and other members of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
A team from the Mabaruma Town Council led by Mayor Chris Phang; Deputy Mayor, Carolyn Robinson; and Town Clerk, Ganesh Seecharran was also at the meeting.
“The visit was a security assessment of the Region and also to meet with the Regional Administration to assure that the Joint Services were thoroughly investigating the allegations of rape brought against military personnel in the past week. Both teams expressed concern about such and committed to rebuilding the image and public trust of the Joint Services across the Region,” a release from the GPF stated.
During the meeting, the Regional representatives raised concerns about poor accommodations for the members of the Joint Services and inadequate land and water transportation. Without these, they explained that it would be difficult to effectively combat crime and conduct other duties in the Region.
Added to these concerns was that of the timely payment of contracted suppliers of the Joint Services.
Meanwhile, the Joint Services team reiterated that the members of the Joint Services who are serving in the Region must and will be proactive while approaching their duties with a high level of professionalism.
A commitment was given for the serving members to continue collaborations with the Regional Administration on various projects and activities that the Administration may propose.
“These assurances were met with the Regional Administration team’s pledge of support to the Joint Services’ members serving in the Region. Talks of continued collaboration to ensure highly maintained security to the Region were also explored,” the release stated.
After the meeting, the Joint Services team also visited Morawhanna, Shell Beach, Imbotero and the Mabaruma Police Stations where they briefed ranks of what was expected of them while serving in the Region and urged them to continue to work together as a team to fulfil the mandate of securing the Region and the country’s frontier.
