Leyland Roopnarine responds to Hamilton Green

Dear Editor,

Former PNC strongman Hamilton Green continues to wave his tattered flag to the Guyanese people and by extension the local police. In his article (KN Sept., 12) Mr. Green asserted that no foreign assistance is needed to help the local Police find the perpetrators of the slain Henry’s cousins. I strongly disagreed with his position because many Guyanese are aware that in the area of forensics, the local police do not have the expertise and the wherewithal to solve certain high level crimes. Mr. Green knows that the most used method to solve crime in Guyana or getting a confession from likely criminals is done by the use of force by police officers. And although such brutal approach has often been denied by the police, many have concurred that it is true.

The fact that Mr. Green does not want the Guyana Police Force to seek assistance from other countries to solve the murders of the Henry’s cousins could be viewed as a double edge sword. On the one hand, it shows that he has confidence in the local police force, which is good. On the other hand, his position takes us to the heyday of the PNC rule when policemen were mostly interested in searching car trunks for contraband items instead of solving crimes. In this period, Father Darke (my school teacher at St. Stanislaus College) was murder and his murderer, Bilal Ato was given a mere five-year sentence, which was a slap on the risk. Also, during the PNC reign, many of the heinous crimes that were committed included the murder of Vincent Teekah, a former minister in the PNC government were not solved. In fact, it was a period when Guyana recorded the most unsolved murders. So for Hamilton Green to say that the local police does not need foreign help to solve the murders of the Henry cousins is silly and hypocritical to say the least.

Mr. Green ought to know that if the police had sought outside help during his tenure as Prime Minister to solve crimes, the “so-called” kick-down-door bandits would not have been able to roam the streets with impunity. Is this type of lawlessness Mr. Green wants the country to return to? Finally, may I remind the former Prime Minister that fighting and reducing crime should be the highest priority for all, and the head of state should leave no stone unturned in solving heinous crimes. So, I fully supported the local police to seek assistance abroad in order to find the perpetrators of the barbaric murders of the Henry cousins.

Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine