Army needs equipment for effective border monitoring --spokesman


Stabroek News
November 21, 1999


The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is making maximum use of the resources available to it, army spokesman, Captain Wycliffe McAllister said.

However, he said that it would need the boats recommended for the Coast Guard, additional trucks, land rovers and aircraft to improve the effectiveness of its monitoring functions.

Capt McAllister made the observation in response to questions about comments by Major General Joe Singh on the army's need for more equipment to enable it to discharge its functions more effectively. The Chief of Staff's comments were contained in his anniversary message this year.

Capt McAllister explained that one of the roles of the GDF was to define aggression and to guard against that aggression regardless of the form it took in defence of the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The army spokesman said it was well known that the army had a limited capability in monitoring the country's 1,500 miles of land borders and needed more aircraft to monitor "as it would like to do". "A better aircraft capability would enable it to better carry out reconnaissance and surveillance of the borders." Radar equipment, he said too, would enhance its monitoring capability.

In addition, he said that the GDF needed better seagoing capability to more thoroughly monitor the country's Exclusive Economic Zone.

Capt McAllister said that the GDF had an organic disability when it came to deploying its troops if the circumstances necessitated it. However, he said, that it could do so with the assistance provided by other agencies.

Capt McAllister also referred to other remarks in the Chief of Staff's message which praised the innovation of GDF soldiers in the absence of equipment which would normally be available to other armies.

Those remarks, he said, not only praised the troops for the sacrifice they make in being separated from their families for long periods but also congratulated them for being able to compete with more developed armies which, the Chief of Staff said, was a testimony to their aptitude, determination and willingness to serve.

Questions had surfaced about the army's ability to effectively monitor Guyana's borders following the firing of shots on Ankoko Island and air intrusions at Kaikan and Imbotero by the Venezuelan National Guard and air force and the seizure by the Suriname Coast Guard of four passenger boats some 200 yards from the Guyana shore last month. Previous to this, Venezuela had reiterated its claim to the Essequibo region in a message it issued to mark the centennial of the 1899 Arbitral Award.

es to restructuring the Public Service.


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Guyana: Land of Six Peoples