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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, September 15, 2017
Williams is now acting crime chief
ASSISTANT Police Commissioner Paul Williams who was Commander of “B” Division (Berbice) will serve as the country’s acting crime chief, while Superintendent Michael Kingston will serve as his deputy. Williams will hold this position until the substantive Crime Chief, Detective Senior Superintendent, Wendell Blanhum, returns from leave. He is currently on his annual leave. Assistant Commissioner, Lindon Alves, will act as Commander of ‘B’ Division. Acting Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine, in a press statement Thursday noted that the Blanhum has served the Guyana Police Force well and has proceeded on annualised vacation leave accumulated for a number of years. Ramnarine explained that last year Blanhum should have proceeded on over 100 days annualised vacation leave but due to exigencies of the Force, exacerbated by the overriding public security concerns, he was only able to enjoy a very brief period of relaxation (annual vacation leave). “A few days ago, the Crime Chief (Mr Blanhum) requested to proceed
on another short period of annual vacation leave which was approved, taken into account that it was again deserved and that he, as well as other senior officers, will have to resume duty in time
this was not a sudden and calculated sick report, as Das while on vacation leave overseas had to seek medical attention on more than one occasion and was going to be away from duty for a week.
District),” the police commissioner said. In the circumstances, Ramnarine said the initial decision was made to have Senior Superintendent Ravindradat Budhram ‘fill the breach’ at CID temporar-
ters, Eve Leary is equally too important to be ‘left in the open’ without the requisite command leadership,” Ramnarine explained. He continued: “It should be noted by all with interests in law en-
Commander of ‘F’ Division, Ravindradat Budhram
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Williams
Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum
Acting Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine
for the commencement of the Police’s Christmas period. A period where the intensification of operational and preventive law enforcement strategies are paramount,” Ramnarine noted.
Additionally, he had previously requested officially, a movement out of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) due its strenuous engagements. “At the same time Detective Superintendent Joel David, who is stationed at the CID Headquarters, Eve Leary was and still is on a special assignment with a team of officers, investigating the episode of the illegal air craft in Mandacaro, Region Nine (Lethem
ily until such time, that is a matter of days when a more informed decision would have been made. “There was no intention to have Senior Superintendent Ravindradat Budhram permanently based at the CID on the fundamental basis that ‘F’ Division, which he commands is increasingly becoming a geographical area of much interest, and in which he has developed comprehensive understanding of. The CID Headquar-
forcement activities, and administration that notwithstanding the loss of nine senior officers this year due to retirement, the current corps of senior and junior officers and indeed all ranks and auxiliaries will continue to give of the utmost in the interest of this beautiful country, according to the Oath of Office, training, knowledge and experience.”
ILL Unfortunately and regrettably so, the top cop said Blanhum’s deputy, Detective Senior Superintendent Rishi Das fell ill. Ramnarine explained
Gov’t working to reverse UK ban on Greenheart By Svetlana Marshall THE ban on greenheart exports to the United Kingdom (UK) remains a major concern, Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge said on Wednesday. Minister Greenidge, speaking at his South Road Ministry, said the ban on greenheart exports to the UK continues to engage the attention of the government. In addition to the ongoing talks with the UK, the government through the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is trying to ensure that the required standards applicable to the harvesting of greenheart and other species are established and enforced. Such moves, he posited, may aid in bringing an end to the ban.
“It has been a little bit of a sore point for us and I know that within the private sector [it] is a concern,” he positing while assuring that the UK high commissioner has been meeting British authorities on Guyana’s behalf. Greenheart exports to the UK went from US$3.2 million in 2014 to US$1million in 2015. The Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA) has long blamed the incorrect labelling of Guyana’s forest management practices for the ban. The ban, which went into effect in May 2015 following its imposition by the UK Environment Agency, came as a surprise to the local industry, on the basis that the private sector and government were in communication with Central
Point for Expertise on Timber (CPET) that advised UK government agencies on timber procurement policies. The GMSA had noted that because of the need to prove legality and sustainability and meet certification standards, the industry had entered into negotiations under the European Union programme for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), which aims to reduce illegal logging by strengthening sustainable and legal forest management, improving governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber. The stakeholders noted that the consultants to CPET did state that EU FLEGT licensing “would” constitute adequate evidence of Category B compliance, and hence allows
exports. The International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) had identified Guyana as one of only six tropical forest-producing countries in the world practising sustainable forestry management at the forest-concession level. Further, it noted that Global Forest Watch’s deforestation ranking put Guyana’s periodic deforestation rate at 0.568 per cent, making Guyana the lowest-ranked tropical or largely forested country in the world. In addition, the stakeholders noted that Yale University Environmental Performance Index in 2016 ranked Guyana fourth worldwide (out of 116 countries) in tree cover loss, behind only Georgia, Vanuatu and Bhutan.
SERIOUS DEFICIENCIES President David Granger recently indicated that the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the
alleged assassination plot against him has exposed serious deficiencies and weaknesses in the Force, and these will be corrected. He had noted that the CoI was not meant to be a witch-hunt but work has to be done to ensure that the law enforcement agency is more professional and efficient in the execution of its duties and responsibilities. “[The Commission] made some very strong recommendations. Even persons who have been following the dayto-day reports would have realised that there has been a significant lapse in professionalism at the high levels of the Guyana Police Force, so these are matters of concern. It has brought to light some serious deficiencies and I am very confident that the work that Mr. Russell Combe is doing will point to ways in which we can correct the deficiencies. The important thing is to ensure that we get information so that we can correct faults. It is not a witch-hunt. We are trying to make the law enforcement agencies more efficient,” he said. Combe is a British security expert, who is an advisor to President Granger as part of the United Kingdom’s US$4.7B Security Sector Reform (SSR) Programme, which had been scrapped by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration in 2009. He is expected to produce an initial interim report shortly.