MP Ferguson’s Facebook post ‘malicious and delusional’ – Minister Teixeira

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Hon. Gail Teixeira has condemned what she says is a “malicious and deluded” Facebook post made by Opposition Member of Parliament, Hon. Annette Ferguson accusing the Government of “setting up of Death Squad and Black Clothes groups.”

The post misinterpreted the supplementary provision approved for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) during the consideration of financial paper 2/2021 in the National Assembly on Monday.

In an interview with DPI today, Minister Teixeira said, “This has nothing to do with any Black Clothes Group. This is not a resuscitation of anything. This is a new initiative by the Government through the Guyana Defence Board to be able to reduce the level of crime, to be able to have better access to information and intelligence sharing between agencies in order to make our society safer, to be able to make our people live in a safer environment.”

The approved supplementary provision for the GDF included $394,391,923 for current and $318,662,251 for capital expenditures.

“The majority of the items related to the regional joint support teams. This is a decision of the Defence Board and the implementation commenced in April 2021.

The regional joint support teams are made up of the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force. This is an operational issue to enhance our capabilities to fight crime, all types of crime,” she said.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said neither the line of questioning from the Opposition’s side on the supplementary provision for the GDF, nor the response by the Government side, made mention of ‘black clothes’ or ‘death squad.’

Minister Teixeira also supported the statement from the Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Robeson Benn, which also condemned Ferguson’s post.