Chairpersons of four Special Select Committees elected

Chairpersons of four Special Select Committees elected
Guyana Chronicle, 16 January 2008
THE National Assembly yesterday elected persons to chair four Special
Select Committees.

These include the first Special Select Committee on the Security Sector
Reform (SSR) Action Plan, and the first Special Select Meeting on the
Disciplined Forces Commission --- which will both be chaired by Prime
Minister Samuel Hinds, following two unopposed nominations.

Also elected was Minster of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who was
selected as the chairman of the Special Select Committee on the Report
of the Draft Standing Orders.

Agriculture Minster Robert Persaud was appointed to serve as chairman
on the Select Committee on the Forest Bill 2007.

The nominations were read my Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph
Ramkarran, in the Speaker’s Chamber, Public Buildings Georgetown.

Disciplined Forces Commission
The Disciplined Forces Commission (DFC), which will be chaired by Prime
Minister Hinds, was established to inquire into a wide range of issues,
including pay, training, structures, the need for an
ethnically-balanced police force and the disposition of human rights
complaints, within the Disciplined Forces which included the Guyana
Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

Since its establishment, the DFC has received hundreds of submissions
from various sources, including government officials, non-governmental
organisations and members of the public.

Recently, the Commission had announced that the police needed “urgent,
serious and wide-ranging reform,” a step that will be crucial in
creating a balance among all levels of Guyanese society.

SSR Action Plan
The Security Sector Reform (SSR) Action Plan, is designed to
effectively address the rising concerns within the security sector.

The plan was inked last year between the Government of Guyana and the
British Government through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and its
Special Select Committee will be chaired by Prime Minister Samuel
Hinds.

The Plan comprises five elements, which include building the
operational capacity of the Guyana Police Force from the provision of a
uniformed response toward serious crime, to forensics, crime
intelligence and traffic policing.

It also intends to strengthen the policy-making process across the
security sector to make it more transparent, effective, and better
coordinated. (Alex Holder)