President Irfaan Ali has offered support for the establishment of a regional police academy in Guyana to ensure efficient policing across the region.
Delivering the keynote address at the launch of the 39th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP) at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre on Monday, President Ali noted the importance of training support to the region as a means of fostering regional integration.
“Under training, we are making a series of investments for the region. We want to have the regional police academy here in Guyana to support training. We are going to make the investment; we are going to have the external support. We want the programme to be internationally certified… so we want a discussion around it. How do we deploy this regional academy to support your training?”
Pointing to the recently launched National Defense Institute (NDI), President Ali also offered the region support under this new facility. He said that the NDI is operating at a high level with a Master’s programme, post-grad programmes that are supported by international and defense institutes globally.
“We want to have an opportunity during this conference to also present that to you, and the opportunities through that programme, some online; we can do specific programmes designed for specific needs including cybercrime.”
In registering the importance of the NDI and its various services, the president highlighted that the National Defense Institute has even provided specific training to the corporate community, enlightening companies on the effects of cybercrime, for instance, so that they understand the risks and the importance of investing in protection against the growing threat. Likewise, he highlighted that training from a regional perspective is also necessary for security forces to operate efficiently.
In relation to the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC), President Ali expressed disappointment that the region has not taken advantage of the ITEC programme offered in India.
He said in Guyana, hundreds of officers have benefited from the programme in the last four years but learned that the region has made little effort in utilizing the initiative.
The Head of State encouraged regional commissioners to apply for the assistance for their servicemen and women and took it upon himself to follow up on the applications to ensure the region accesses the free ITEC programme.
