Former President Donald Ramotar has taken the APNU+AFC government to task over the crime situation in the country and is urging more involvement of members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in crime fighting activities.

Mr. Ramotar who was ousted from government back in May, was at the time reacting to the invasion by  armed criminals on the home of Assistant Commissioner of Police and former Crime Chief Leslie James.

Writing on his Facebook page, Ramotar said the encounter tells the grim story of how crime is spiraling out of control in Guyana.

“This is a blatant and brazen attack on one of our most senior police officer. It is a slap in the face of the Guyana Police Force and the government as a whole,” he added.

The former President said he was “very disappointed at the casual way the government is handling the situation.”

To this end, he reminded that during the PPP/C period in office, the Guyana Defence Force was called out to do joint patrols with the police in times of heightened criminal activities.

He reminded too that during the holiday season, the PPP/C administration had a programme where the army and police had joint patrols between November 15 to January 15 to minimize the crimes in the country.

“This needs to be continued now,” he advocated.

“I am extremely disappointed that the mentality in the APNU +AFC regime is to keep the army in barracks. The trend all over the world is for the army to come out and work with the police in combating crime,” he added.

Ramotar who was pushed aside by his party as executives chose Bharrat Jagdeo to be Opposition Leader, attempted to lecture the government and said as the nature of crime evolves, the role of the disciplined forces must also evolve.

“The world over the army is doing more to fight crime.” He called on the government to immediately take steps to have the army assist the police now. “If Mr. Leslie James was so wantonly invaded, no one is safe from the criminals,” he concluded.

The Guyana Police Force has reported that while there has been a slight increase in some types of crime, the situation has not gone out of control.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police was held at gunpoint and robbed two days after that statement was made.

(File photo)

Related posts:

There is no upsurge in crime in the State of Guyana -Top Cop assures Government has full confidence in Police Force’s crime fight –Harmon Coalition government lacks “fit and proper” people to fight crime -Rohee Mr. Ramotar should not now concern himself with national security matters -Pres. Granger