Harmon praises improvements at brickdam lockups; slams GPF, Gov’t on Covid-19 enforcement

Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon on Thursday afternoon expressed partial satisfaction with the improvements at the Brickdam Police Station Lockups but was quick to blast the Guyana Police Force and the Ministry of Home Affairs for the poor enforcement of covid-19 enforcement guidelines.

The Opposition Leader was at the time addressing the media outside of the Brickdam Police Station where he, along with several APNU officials including Astell Collins, Darren Wade, and Member of Parliament Coretta McDonald paid a visit to the Trevon Benn, the former head of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission who was arrested by the police on Wednesday morning. Relatives of Benn were also present at the station this afternoon.

“The conditions under which he is held… there has been some improvements here at the Brickdam Lockups from what it used to be long time ago, I can say that; but the room in which you have to sit and talk to him is atrocious, its atrocious and much better has to be done” Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon told the media on Thursday afternoon.

According to Mr. Harmon, covid-19 is a reality and based on what he told by Trevor Benn, some of the people who the police picked up from the station and took the CID Headquarters have not been wearing masks.

This has prompted the APNU to make available to Trevor Benn, masks for his personal protection and to issue to others who are also in the lockups. Harmon said that from the looks of things, it appears that persons are just being arrested and taken into custody with no covid-19 enforcement guidelines observed.

“This is an issue which the Guyana Police Force… the ministry of Home Affairs, they have to take that into consideration as well” Harmon explained.

He further stressed that it was only on Thursday afternoon that he read a report where a number of persons from the Central Passport Office came down with covid-19.

“Now these are departments under the Ministry of Home Affairs just as the police and so if they do not take the necessary action to ensure that people are safe, all of these persons they hold on allegations even if they are charged; they have rights and those rights should never be violated by the state itself so I am saying here again, covid-19 enforcement regulations, it is not just for the people outside but the people in there have to also be protected because they are human beings just like us” the Opposition leader concluded.