Ramjattan laments lack of resources to police borders

As government continues to explore ways to remove illegal firearms from the streets and curb gun-smuggling, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan has recognised the need for additional resources to police the country’s porous borders.

In a video released by the Ministry of the Presidency on Saturday titled “Border Control”, the Minister explained that Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) along with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) have strengthened their efforts along the coast of Guyana to curb smuggling activities.
However, he pointed out that there has been an increase of illegal guns coming in through the porous borders from neighbouring Brazil and Venezuela, a situation which local law enforcements are not fully equipped to arrest.

“…as you would appreciate, that’s a massive border for which there aren’t plenty controls because of our limited set of resources. So a number of these weapons are coming in – some coming in through the border with Venezuela, we understand, and they are then reaching other mid-Guyana townships like Bartica and so on; and then they are being transferred out from there into Georgetown. So it is especially important that we get more resources to ensure that that kind of trafficking in arms is halted but of course that’s difficult,” the Minister lamented.
On this note, Ramjattan disclosed that he has lobbied the United States during a recent visit with the State Department for assistance in strengthening Guyana’s border controls under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI).
He noted that the Americans recognised the challenges Guyana face and have indicated their willingness to support the country.
Following that US trip, the minister had told reporters that this request was based on new patterns observed by local law enforcements.
“I did identify border controls because more and more the evidence is that from Brazil, we are having more small arms coming in. So whilst we have sharpened up in relation to interdictions of guns coming in from North America through our GRA system and the airplanes, we have to also have our eyes in the Brazilian territory which is a very long porous border too,” he disclosed.
Minister Ramjattan had noted too that such surveillance will be expensive, since it would more or less come in the form of an airplane or satellite imagery.
“I don’t know but we told them we would like to have surveillance equipment, if it’s not going to be airplanes then drones that can go a good hundred miles and come back at some command centre probably in Lethem… In these exercise of trying to stop drugs and firearms from entering in Guyana, if all of that is what we will require, they have made a commitment that yes there will be assistance in that regard.”
Moreover, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) called on government to adequately equip local law enforcement agencies and personnel to better police the country’s borders in order to arrest gun-smuggling from neighbouring countries.
According to Chairman of the Commission, Eddie Boyer, this will help in curbing the violent gun-related crimes that have been occurring in Guyana. He expressed that citizens are concerned about the inability of the State to generally protect them from widespread gun-related crime threatening their wellbeing and safety.
On this note the PSC Chairman is calling on President David Granger, who is also Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to publicly order the men and women in uniform to bring some order and control as it relates to criminal gangs and individuals terrorising the Guyanese community.
“While we commend the Minister and the Commissioner of Police for the recent reduction in serious crime; our country, nevertheless, remains unprotected from guns flowing across our borders into the hands of violent criminals virtually without restraint. (Meanwhile) our country remains with a Police Force which is inadequately staffed, insufficiently trained and underequipped to meet the challenge.”
Boyer continued that Guyanese are traumatised by fear almost every day, of having a gun pointed at them with criminal intent. He noted too that businesses, banks and even the Tourism Industry are also under threat: “This is not the good life. It is time that our President intervene… We believe that each and every one of our ordinary citizens feel threatened, regardless of where they happen to be, whether in the street, their workplace or in their homes, are under threat each day from violent gun-related crime.”
Meanwhile, President Granger had also expressed concerns over illegal weapons entering Guyana from Brazil and signalled intentions to up border control to get these guns off the streets: “Our biggest problem is the fact that we have a border with Brazil which is the border’s largest producer and exporter of small arms. Many illegal weapons are traced to Brazil.”
The Head of State also surmised that private licensed firearm holders are renting their weapons to criminals and posited that he would like to have firearms to be taken out of the hands of private citizens, noting that only law enforcement should be carrying weapons.
That statement did not go down well with the public as criticisms mounted against the president since many believe that having personalised weapons is an avenue of protection against criminals, who are now perceived to be emboldened.