Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Nigel Hughes issued a call today for the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Ministerial Task Force on Borders to be convened urgently in wake of Monday’s attack on a Guyana Defence Force (GDF) patrol in the Cuyuni River that left six soldiers nursing gunshot wounds.

It is suspected that the gunmen, who attacked the GDF ranks are part of a criminal gang from Venezuela.

Four days after the bloody attack, Mr. Hughes told a press conference today that he had expected that by now the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Relations would have been convened by the Government to brief Members of Parliament on the circumstances surrounding the incident. 

He said it is also unfortunate that to date, the Ministerial Task Force on Borders has not briefed the Parliamentary parties on the incident, which appears to be a threat to Guyana’s sovereignty.

“These are matters of grave national importance on which there is no difference between the political parties both in and out of parliament in terms of the protection of our sovereignty. And so, we are calling today for the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Relations to be immediately convened as well as the Ministerial Task Force on the Border,” the AFC Leader said.

The Chief of Defence Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Omar Khan has indicated that the GDF has already made moves to significantly adjust its posture on the western border and surrounding communities following the attack.

He told News Source that systems are being put in place to improve the army’s posture at border locations, but Mr. Hughes complained that the parliamentary parties, in particular the opposition, have not been briefed on the country’s response to the incident. 

“We thought that the army, ought to have briefed by now, it has been four days, all the parliamentary parties and perhaps non parliamentary parties on the developments that took place on Monday, 17th. We are completely unaware of that and at a minimum the Leader of the Opposition should have been notified as an important stakeholder in regard to this,” Hughes told reporters.

He expressed concern that a number of border communities are now exposed to the actions of the criminal elements, and should therefore receive increased protection.

“We have not heard about what measures are likely to be taken or have already been taken to protect those vulnerable communities. As you know, most of those communities have probably a single police station with one police officer, who is perhaps a civilian, and quite a few of those communities do not even have a police station,” he said.

However, according to the Chief of the Defence Force, since the extraction of the six soldiers who were shot, the GDF has reinforced its presence along the Cuyuni river and in other sections of the border with Venezuela.

The Government of Guyana has expressed its outrage over the incident and has informed its international partners.

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