Guyana opposition party says country's crime rate escalating

The main opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) yesterday called on the Guyana government to deal with the escalating crime situation in the country and accused President David Granger of seeking to falsify the figures.

PPP secretary general and former national security minister, Clement Rohee, told a news conference that President Granger’s statements that the country was not under any crime wave were a disingenuous attempt to evade the issue.

Rohee said the popular perception is that crime is on the increase and he believes the police statistics also speak to this reality.

In September, police said Guyana had recorded a six per cent increase in murders for the first eight months of this year compared to 2014.

Police said that a total of 108 murders were recorded at the end of August this year compared with 98 the previous year.