Members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in a joint operation on Thursday visited the Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Wiani) area – a mission that sought to improve the joint services’ security posture in the region with the aim of both improving and repairing its image among the residents there.
The visit comes days after the allegations of rapes were leveled against five GDF ranks.
A statement from Police Headquarters noted that “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.”
Authorities expressed concern about the report and committed to rebuilding the image and public trust of the Joint Services across the region.
The Joint Services team was led by GDF’s Colonel Skeete and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken.
During the visit, the team met with the regional administration. The regional administration team was led by Regional Chairman, Brentnol Ashley; Vice-Chair, Annasha Peters and other members of the RDC.
It also included a team from the Mabaruma Town Council, led by Mayor, Chris Phang; Deputy Mayor, Carolyn Robinson and Town Clerk, Ganesh Seecharran in the boardroom of the Regional Democratic Council.
The regional team raised concerns of poor accommodations for members of the Joint Services and noted that proper and adequate transportation was needed for both land and water for the effective combating of crime and other duties.
The issue of timely payment of contracted suppliers of the Joint Services was also raised.
The Joint Services team also reiterated that its members, who are serving in the Region, must and will be proactive while approaching their duties with a high level of professionalism.
A commitment was also given for the serving members to continue collaboration with the regional administration on various projects and activities that the administration may propose.
These assurances were met with a pledge from the regional administration to support members of the Joint Services’ serving in the region.
Talks of continued collaboration to ensure highly maintained security to the region were also explored.
After the meeting, the Joint Services team visited the following areas: Morawhanna, Shell Beach, Imbotero and the Mabaruma Police Station 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 fulfill the mandate of securing the Region and the country’s frontier.
