…as he seeks to justify control of leave for Senior OfficersHome Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, says that fear over the country’s peace and good order is what has caused him to manage how senior police officers go on leave.“It is to be noted that the current political and public order climate needs to be monitored closely as threats to the maintenance of peace and good order in Guyana continue to be made by the political opposition.“This is demonstrated by their support for the call made by Mr. Mark Benschop to ‘begin finding ways to shut the country down,Jerseys From China, either by blocking all roads, highways, bridges, airports’, in his protest against the proposed increase in electricity rates,Discount NFL Jerseys,” Rohee said in a statement last evening.Home Affairs Minister, Clement RoheeHe was responding to a Kaieteur News report in which senior officers accused him of “abusing his civilian oversight functions” by dictating the timing of their leave entitlement.Some officers complained that their leave was being arbitrarily cut down by the Minister.Rohee agreed that senior officers of the Guyana Police Force are indeed eligible for 42 days Annual Vacation Leave,Cheap Jerseys China, but that consideration must be given to maintaining adequate levels of command in the Guyana Police Force at all times.According to Rohee, the reality is that currently there are nine Assistant Commissioners, four of whom are substantive Commanders and five of whom are based at the Police Headquarters.There are six Senior Superintendents of Police performing the role of Commanders; three at Divisions and the remaining three at Police Headquarters.He said these Commanders all applied for Annual Vacation Leave during the period June to September 2013.“If this situation is not properly managed, there could very well be an instance where at some point during this period,Wholesale Jerseys, all the Commanders will be on vacation leave,” Rohee stated.He said that it was for this reason that it was considered wise for the annual leave to be staggered so that an adequate number of senior officers are available in the event of any “unforeseen situation.”In this way, he said, officers can be granted annual leave at various periods during the year rather than all at the same time.Apart from ensuring the preservation of peace and good order, he said the crime and traffic situation also needs to be kept under tight control.“There must be a high level of proficiency and response capability within the Force in case of any eventuality, since given the experiences at Linden and Agricola, the political opposition cannot be deemed trustworthy in so far as the maintenance of peace and good order in Guyana is concerned,” Rohee charged.Rohee said that at the Police Change Team meeting to which reference was made in the Kaieteur News article, there was no discussion on Annual Vacation Leave for Police Officers, although it is known that Assistant Commissioner Josiah has strong views on the subject.The Minister claimed that what arose at the meeting was a status report on a proposal by the Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration by the Guyana Police Force on the establishment of Cops and Faith Community Network.The objective of this programme is to have the police and pastors working together to prevent violence in communities instead of the police picking up youths and charging them for certain minor offences, Rohee said.He said that the Pastors would counsel and mentor the youths in an effort to help them to move away from their deviant behaviour.However,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, at the meeting with the Minister,Cheap Jerseys From China, Rohee said a certain senior rank aired his differences with the Ministry on the matter and the Minister indicated that he would discuss the matter further with the Commissioner who was not present at the said meeting.Rohee said that at no time during the meeting did he sought to deny retired officers their benefits or make them “beg” for it, as is being bandied about.