Dear Editor,

I would like to send out a plea to all public spirited Guyanese to help our nation relieve itself from criminal elements that plague our society today.

I am sick to my stomach! Everyday I open the paper only to read abut someone who was killed at the hands of bandits.

At first I was blaming the Guyana Police Force for the sloppy job that they are doing but after careful examination I have shifted the blame to the government.

The police force has to work with what they have and must make do with the money they receive from the government by way of the yearly budget. This money is obviously not enough to purchase sophisticated weapons, protective gear and all the necessary equipment that is needed to properly equip the police force. The bandits are well equipped with sophisticated weapons which they use to carry out their senseless crimes and killings.

So many families have lost loved ones, so many mothers have lost their sons, so many wives have lost husbands, so many children have lost their fathers and in some case mothers too. What will happen to them? What kind of psychological effect will it have on them? Isn't the government moved?

In the Kaieteur News dated January 4, 2005, there is a caption which reads, "Businessmen raise over $12m" to help the tsunami victims in South Asia.

I am very sympathetic to what has happened to those people in South Asia, it is a great tragedy and I do feel their pain and their loss. But they are receiving help from other nations the world over and to date those donations have surpassed 2 billion dollars (US) and more is still pouring in.

Why do these same businessmen not come together and pledge this kind of money to help the Guyana Police Force.

They could do it in cash or kind. By helping the police force, it will make our society a bit safer. I have stopped socializing and taking my children to certain places for fear of being robbed, harmed or killed, but it still does not mean that I will be safe at home which is a chance I have to take.

Government must do more to deal with this problem.

Yours faithfully,

Marcia Peters