The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company is firing back at the Minister of Home Affairs after he sought to lay blame with the problems with 911 at the doorsteps of the telephone company.
GT&T in a statement on Tuesday expressed “grave concern and disappointment”over comments from the Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee that “the unresponsiveness of the 911 system is a technical error that GT&T is refusing to accept responsibility for.”
The company said the 911 service is installed and operated like any other landline/fixed service provided by GT&T, “the only difference being the use of three digits (911), instead of the standard seven digits.”
According to the company, it provides toll free 911 facilities that are housed at Police Stations and are manned solely by the Guyana Police Force and their operatives. “Hence GT&T has no responsibility nor visibility as to manning levels and indeed whether or not there are GPF personnel tasked with twenty-four hours, seven days (24 x 7) , 365 day manning of the 911 facilities across the country”, the company said.
Over the past few years, there have been several complaints about the inefficiency of the 911 emergency service. Persons continue to complain that their calls to the emergency number would go unanswered. The Guyana Police Force has been dodging responsibility although the service is connected directly to police stations across the country.
GT&T said prior to 2006, all calls to the 911 number were answered at the Brickdam Police Station regardless of which area of the country the calls originated, but at the request of the Guyana Police Force, GT&T officials met in 2005 with the Police to review the 911 operation.
The company said following the meeting, a decision was made that landline calls to 911 be answered at various police stations based on a detailed schedule submitted by the Guyana Police Force. GT&T said “this was done as requested since GPF officials at that time indicated that this dispersion factored in geography and would aid the GPF’s response times”.
According to the company, each district has one dedicated 911 line except for Georgetown and New Amsterdam which have four dedicated lines each. Additionally, all cell calls irrespective of where they are made from are answered at the Brickdam Police Station, the company noted.
“GT&T does weekly checks to ensure all lines are technically functional. GT&T records the answering GPF party once the line is answered during these routine tests. Priority is given to faults detected during tests or complaints reported when the line is answered”, company officials said in a statement.
The company said it would like to make clear the unresponsiveness of the 911 personnel has nothing to do with GT&T. The statement said that checks by GT&T have revealed the disappearance of handsets from the termination points of 911 lines at various Police Stations, the removal of the handset off the hook and no answer by personnel during standard working hours.
GT&T said “we are aware of the plans by the Ministry of Home Affairs to upgrade their national emergency system, to include police, fire and ambulance services using the 911 facility”.
According to the company, “for simplicity, it is not within our control who answers the 911 phone . GT&T’s responsibility begins and ends with ensuring access by all subscribers to the assigned 911 fixed service lines and ensuring maintenance of this access as a priority.”
The company wants the Guyana Police Force to conduct an urgent investigation and review of all facts which would highlight all issues associated with 911 services and reported deficiencies of same.
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