'I've made it clear Buxton must be cleaned out' -President
Stabroek News
April 21, 2003
President Bharrat Jagdeo says he has made it clear to the law enforcement agencies that he wanted them "to clean out the situation in Buxton" and he again said that he was not satisfied with the work of the security forces and that they needed to rethink their strategies.
In an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), the President said that his administration has given all it could in terms of policies, resources and moral support to the law enforcement agencies but that these efforts have not always yielded positive results.
Buxton has been the epicentre of the crime wave which has dogged the country for more than a year now. Many wanted men are said to be operating with impunity in the village and a US diplomat who was recently kidnapped was held in the village prior to being released.
Responding to suggestions that he had requested the army and the police to "hold back" on fighting crime, especially in relation to Buxton, the President said this was far from the truth. "I've made my orders clear. It's either that these orders are not handed down or some people on the ground are involved in things they should not be involved in...if a crime is being committed and a soldier says he does not have orders, that's wrong; he should not be in the army... I've made it clear what I wanted ... to clean out the situation in Buxton", Jagdeo said, according to a GINA release. He added that directions to this effect had been passed to the Minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gajraj, the Commissioner of Police (ag), Floyd McDonald and Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Michael Atherly.
Jagdeo said he was confident that the police and the army have the capacity to tackle the criminals. The President was optimistic that the presence here of members of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will shed some "positive light" on the situation. The FBI has been here since the kidnapping of the US diplomat earlier this month.
