Police Force gets $300M to expand fleet; $830M to upgrade stations

Observing that the security sector has long been plagued by issues of poor response times and inefficient resource allocations, Finance Minister, De Ashni Singh on Friday last announced that a sum of $15.3 billion has been allocated to the Guyana Police Force in the 2021 National Budget.

During the presentation of the budget in the National Assembly, Dr Singh said some $300 million is to be spent on the expansion of the land and water fleet across all the regions to complement the existing fleet.

In 2021, the government will be resuscitating the Community Policing Groups. To this end, an amount of $95 million has been allocated to help those groups strengthen neighbourhood patrols and visibility.

Additionally, over $830 million has been allocated for the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of police stations, including Providence, Ruimveldt, Cove and John, Albion, Whim, Parika, Wismar, and others.

“We also plan to improve investigative and forensic capabilities of ranks by conducting training in 20 courses for 828 police ranks along with an ongoing overseas training,” he said.

In relation to the Guyana Prison Service, work will commence this year on constructing three new blocks at Lusignan which will accommodate 600 inmates, while works are also progressing on the cells at the New Amsterdam Prison.

Additionally, the construction of the Mazaruni Prison (First Building) to accommodate 220 high profile inmates is expected to be completed within the first quarter of 2021.

A sum of $50 million will be expended towards the training of inmates in the areas of anger management, literacy, agriculture, and culinary arts.

In 2021, the Guyana Fire Service will receive a total of $1.9 billion; major interventions will include the relocation of the Central Fire Station at the congested Stabroek Market and the construction of a new Fire Station at Eccles. Additionally, six water tenders and two ambulances will be procured.