DPP Chambers takes TIP workshop to Orealla, Siparuta

As Guyana grapples with the scourge of sexual exploitation, especially of foreigners, residents in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) communities of Orealla and Siparuta benefited from a Trafficking in Persons (TIP) discussion with representatives of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The DPP’s Chambers in a release disclosed that a four-member team from the DPP’s Office on June 27 and 28 sensitised residents about the role and functions of the DPP’s Office in the criminal justice system at the Orealla Benab on Thursday.
The meeting was led by Assistant DPP Diana O’Brien who also sits on the Ministry of National Security Task Force Committee for Human Trafficking and ADPP and

Legal Assistant Abbas Hamid who spoke on the various offences under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act.
The Chambers observed that residents raised concerns over teenage pregnancy and pointed out their satisfaction of officials meeting with them to discuss the legal issues.
The DPP release said that the team also visited the Orealla Secondary School and the Siparuta Primary School where discussions were held with students on the functions of the DPP’s Office. During the exercise, TIP posters, pamphlets and the DPP’s Chambers information booklet were distributed. The DPP says the objective of the outreach was to meet with residents and to listen to their complaints with respect to legal matters.
It was only in May that four persons were arrested at a bar along Garnett Street, Newtown, Kitty, Georgetown, on allegations that they trafficked 16 women for sexual exploitation purposes. It was reported that the women provided statements to the Police Major Crimes Unit’s Trafficking in Persons Unit.
Fourteen of those women were from Venezuelans with one Cuban and one from The Dominica Republic. They were discovered in a house located in David Street, Kitty in a building that was reportedly guarded. Reports were that ranks from the Unit descended on the house after reports were made that women were being forced into prostitution at a bar in the Kitty area.
Earlier this year, the Police launched a major sting operation at the Diamond Nightclub and Hotel on George Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown. During the raid, approximately 41 foreign nationals, along with eight employees, were arrested and a quantity of narcotics was also discovered on the premises. Several persons have been charged in connection with the incident.