Georgetown, GINA, February 05, 2004

Government will address any consequences stemming from the People’s National Congress Reform’s determined efforts to attract external attention to the issues surrounding the allegations made by George Bacchus about the existence of a “killing squad.”
This is according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday.
PNCR Leader Robert Corbin has written to the CARICOM Heads of Government on the issue. He has also taken it overseas.
“I am certain that the Administration, being tried and tested over years of governing, is going to respond appropriately to the intrigues and antics of the PNCR Leader overseas. One can anticipate a suitable response from the Administration,” Dr. Luncheon said
He said the PNCR is forced to go ahead with the allegations after having expended significant political capital on the issue.
“Cabinet understanding is that the PNCR is externalising the issue, even though it has failed to utilize existing channels to address its concerns, such as the Police,” Dr. Luncheon said.
“One would want to believe that the fervour with which the PNCR has addressed this issue is indeed buttressed by a large amount of good, quality information on which the charges or at least the allegations could be supported,” he said.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, it is still unclear to Government “why those steps have been rejected, not only forsaken, rejected, and in the same breath an approach to the Heads of Government and the wider international community,” was made by the Opposition.
He added “It is apparent that the PNCR is locked in with a certain approach to dealing with this issue and with the level of political capital invested. I do believe that they see no other alternative than to continue to heighten both domestic and international attention on this issue.”
Even though Bacchus went public with his allegations since early January, he still has not made a formal statement to the Police. The Police have tried on several occasions to solicit a statement, without success.
This has posed difficulties in mounting an investigation into the allegations.
George Bacchus brought his allegations to the fore after the fatal shooting of his brother Shafeek Bacchus early January. He believes that his brother was mistakenly killed for him. He first took the allegations to the United States Embassy and has since repeatedly spoken to sections of the media. Bacchus also levelled several allegations against the Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj.
Dr. Luncheon has repeatedly said Cabinet discussed the issue and views the allegations seriously.

From the beginning Government maintained that the allegations are serious and once brought with proper regard to the Administration, there is no doubt that subsequent steps of an investigative nature would be expected.
He added that the expectation of the Administration is that with the volume of the allegations, there must be some effort by those who have made these disclosures to draw to the attention of the Administration various aspects, particularly those that have been touted as the basis for attacks on Government functionaries.
However, to date, even after repeatedly speaking to the media, no formal complaint was lodged with the competent authority – the Police.
“There has not been any statement made to the competent authorities and I think that one has to recognize the difficulties in trying to use media reports to mount investigations,” since there are so many versions.
Following the allegations, the political Opposition had called for the Minister’s resignation.
According to Dr. Luncheon, it is not possible for the Administration to ask the Minister to vacate his office once the allegations have not moved beyond their present state. A statement needs to be handed over to the Police.
Commenting on why the Minister of Home Affairs has not been charged, since three others were charged in connection with the case, Dr. Luncheon noted that the statement given did not implicate the Minister.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader has written to the President, indicating he has credible statements that implicate the Minister. President Jagdeo, in reply, urged that these be made public and directed to the Police.