The Social Partners are awaiting the comments of the PNCR on the draft communiqué containing measures to be implemented to address the current crime wave.
The two sides met on Wednesday but sources close to the PNCR told Stabroek News that it had asked for more time to consider the document and to make its comments. The revised document was made available to the PNCR shortly before the meeting and its representatives had no time to study it.
Stabroek News understands that the party intends to make its comments known to the Social Partners before the end of the week. The Social Partners have met with the PPP/C and the government and have had the benefit of its comments. Stabroek News ascertained that the document discussed with the PNCR on Wednesday benefited from the comments the Social Partners received from the parliamentary parties and the government.
After its meeting with the Social Partners last week, the PNCR noted in its comments on the draft communiqué sent to it that: (1) two important points made by it had been omitted. Those were: (i) that it was agreed that any initiative on crime should be an integral part of the Good Governance initiative being promoted by them. As a consequence the PNCR proposed that the communiqué on crime should be placed in that contextual framework.
(ii) That the PNCR had expressed concern that an initiative on crime should include an undertaking by the parties to review the recent so-called anti-crime Bills which were rushed through Parliament without the benefit of input from the stakeholders. The PNCR feels that a commitment ought to be made to review these Acts to ensure that no constitutional provisions have been or are likely to be breached. Such a review it says would create a climate conducive to collaboration. In its comments about the menu of measures, the PNCR says that many of the specifics mentioned in the document though necessary, give the impression of prescribing a specific programme to the security forces and removes from them their professional responsibility to implement their own measures. The party also wants a reference to be made in the communiqué to Article 197A of the Constitu-tion. This article reads: "The State's defence and security forces shall seek to defend national independence, preserve the country's sovereignty and integrity, and guarantee the normal functioning of institutions and the security of citizens against any armed aggression."
The PNCR also provided the Social Partners with an amended draft of the communiqué, which set out a timeframe for reviewing the implementation of the agreed measures and for a resumption of the discussion on the refined draft of the Good Governance paper the Social Partners were mandated to prepare at the September 11, meeting at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel.
The Social Partners expect to meet with all the parliamentary parties as well President Bharrat Jagdeo and PNC/R leader Desmond Hoyte to sign the agreed communiqué. Hoyte will sign the communiqué in his constitutional capacity as Leader of the Opposition. The communiqué would include a mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the agreed measures.
At the request of the Social Partners, Retired Chiefs of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force Majors General (rtd) Norman McLean and Joe Singh and retired Commissioner of Police, Laurie Lewis prepared a paper on the security environment as a result of the unchecked criminal activity. The paper also suggested a number of measures that should be taken and these were discussed with the PPP/C, the government and the PNC/R.