President Dr Irfaan Ali today announced that speed cameras will be positioned along the new Mandela Avenue, Georgetown to Diamond, East Bank Demerara Highway โ a project which is expected to be replicated countrywide.
The Head of State made the announcement as he was addressing the annual Police Christmas Breakfast at the Police Officersโ Mess, Eve Leary. He was at the time speaking about the importance of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) understanding governmentโs developmental agenda, noting that policing strategies must be keeping with the administrationโs developmental thrust.
The President made reference to the new highway being constructed from Mandela to Eccles then Eccles to Diamond, which, he noted, will be equipped with โtechnological featuresโ that will help policing.
These include containerized outposts and speed cameras. A speed camera is a camera positioned at the side of a road which automatically photographs vehicles that are going faster than is allowed. The photographs can be used as evidence in a court of law.
โSpeeding cameras that will not only be telling us speed but will also be showing us whoโs wearing seatbelts and not wearing seatbeltsโฆit will give us advanced information, youโd be able to type in a particular vehicle number and type that youโre looking for and the system through the cameras, will give you detectionโฆand this is a pilot, this will be taken all across the country,โ President Ali said.
Meanwhile, President Ali also outlined the importance of the force in nation-building. โYou are my greatest asset and ally in building this โOne Guyanaโ. And we will do it. I want to assure all of you that it will come and it will come very soon.โ
The lawmen were described as having attitudes and value systems that are patriotic and nationalistic.
The President said that eventually the people of Guyana will triumph above all obstacles and barriers and will join together as โOne Guyanaโ โwhere all of our people will be the brothers and sisters of each otherโ and move forward in harmony.
Additionally, the Head of State noted that his government would continue to equip the force with the necessary vehicles to execute their duties. He said that building on the Governmentโs supply of 50 new vehicles, 65 bikes and other assets to the Force, a supplementary provision has been set aside for 50 more vehicles.
A commitment was also given to replace the engines on more than 20 vehicles, which are out of service, to get them back into working condition.
โThere are some areas that we have to tweak. And we have to be bold in our decision making. We have to take a strategic look at our organisational structure or operational structure and come up with the best-suited model for a modern Guyana. That is why you are seeing legislative changes. We’re looking at a national drone programmeโ.
The President said that drones have already been deployed in the Forceโs crime-fighting strategies in the city and there are also plans to utilise them on the countryโs waterways as the first line of defence.
