Lethem ammunition not accounted for - GDF
Lieutenant confined for other matters
Stabroek News
October 16, 2002
The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) yesterday said that one of its Second Lieutenants has been confined for questioning on “other” operational matters and not over the reported disappearance of a large quantity of ammunition from its Lethem base.
Stabroek News had reported yesterday that after discovering that more than 400 rounds of ammunition had disappeared from the Lethem location, “a lieutenant, who was in charge of the interior base, was detained and brought to the city over the weekend and placed under close arrest at Camp Ayanganna.”
The army issued a release yesterday stating that “contrary to the report, the location commander, who holds the rank of Second Lieutenant, is not under house arrest, but currently confined to Base Camp Ayanganna to answer questions relating to other operational matters.” At no time did this newspaper report that the rank was under “house arrest”.
Further, the release said the young officer was already in Georgetown and was not arrested and brought to the city as reported.
The army said that “as the GDF continued in its efforts of reconciliation of arms, ammunition and other paraphernalia, it was discovered that due to improper record keeping at the Lethem location a quantity of training ammunition could not have been accounted for. This was revealed following a visit to that location by the Commander of 1st Infantry Battalion Group and an investigation was immediately launched.”
The army said the investigation was aimed at establishing the record of issue and expenditure of the ammunition and to determine whether the Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs) for issuing ammunition were observed.
Army’s spokeswoman, Colonel Christine King told Stabroek News yesterday that “we really don’t think that the ammunition disappeared. It might just be that the accounting was not properly done. If [ammunition] is issued out, people are supposed to sign...They could have been possibly used.”
She went on to say that the GDF cannot, as yet, ascertain the exact amount of ammunition unaccounted for and that investigations are continuing.
According to King, the calibre of bullets, too, cannot yet be determined, but she assured that only “training and patrol ammunition” is unaccounted for, which she said is “different from front line type”.
In relation to exactly when the ammunition might have disappeared, the military spokeswoman said the army “can’t say yet [since it is] checking on that right now.”
Last week’s ammo incident has prompted another probe, the third such investigation by the army in the space of three months. Just two Fridays ago, a member of the army’s 31 Special Forces Squadron was detained after he reported to his superiors that a Charlestown resident had approached him with the intention of purchasing an AK-47 assault rifle.
Stabroek News understands that the same rank admitted to stealing and selling five bulletproof vests, possibly to the same man.
All army sources could say on that matter was that investigations were continuing.
Although all arms stores are supposed to be secured by a 24-hour sentry, two of the army’s high-powered weapons - an AK-47 assault rifle and an M-70 rifle - as well as a quantity of ammunition, were pilfered sometime between the ending of July and August 3.
A number of soldiers and civilians were subsequently arrested.
The soldiers had reportedly admitted to the crimes and turned State’s witnesses to testify against the men to whom they allegedly sold the weapons.
They are still being detained at Camp Ayanganna.
Since the Coast Guard incident last July, in which a Berbice businessman was arrested for the illegal purchase of an AK-47 assault rifle and an M-70 assault rifle, the GDF has been conducting security checks at all of its bases and locations and strict adherence to SOPs with regard to all security systems was enforced.