WITH the aim of encouraging a democratic society, the Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, appeared at the first consultation for 2019 in the Kumaka village, Barima -Waini (Region One), to listen to the needs of the people and restore hope.

The session, which was held at the Kumaka waterfront, was well attended by residents of the small village, who came out to have their distresses heard and addressed by the local democratic authorities, and the visiting minister.

One of the major concerns of the people was the issue of Venezuelan immigrants ‘pouring’ into their hometown. In certain areas, the people were afraid of the illegal influx of the Venezuelans, and were pleading for more security and the presence of more immigration officers to monitor the inflow of settlers.

One resident voiced that many of the immigrants were illegal, and they were perpetrating all sorts of criminal activities, such as stealing, drug dealing, prostitution, all of which had caused the Guyanese to feel threatened.

The Regional Chairman, Brentnol Ashley, pointed to the issue of early closure of businesses in the community, due to the fact that the business owners were not feeling safe with the presence of the immigrants. That, he said, would eventually take a toll on the overall economy in the community and disrupt the livelihoods of citizens.

However, Ashley admonished that the local authorities were in the process of finding ways to reassure business owners that they could run their businesses as normal and things would be okay in the community. He told the people that the authorities were hearing their concerns, and were working towards ensuring that they were all safe and that the immigrants would not pose a threat to citizens.

In this regard, the attorney general told the residents that it was a serious situation, and had to be treated and addressed with urgency. He told the people of Kumaka that Guyana’s borders were very porous because of their length.

“We do not have the manpower to patrol our borders. We cannot police our borders adequately, and this is causing all sorts of things to cross over freely. But we are soon to receive the funding to address that issue. However, in the interim, we have to continue to be vigilant, to protect our country and our people,” Williams said.

He also highlighted that it was important for the people to observe the rule of law, since it was that which guided civilisation.
“If you do not have the rule of law, you will have anarchy, you will have no security. And the question of crime would always persist,” the AG said, reminding them that Guyana had signed on to the international treaty, which did not allow ill-treatment of immigrants.

However, at the same time, he said that “not everybody coming across is a pope or a priest, so we have to be guarded. We have international obligations, but not to house criminals and bandits, so we have to look into this immediately.”

Regarding the legal immigrants, AG said that “We have to build shelters for them. We have already identified, in the Barima-Waini region, a place for them to be, where they will also get access to land to practise agriculture, away from the established communities, and we will be able to monitor them in that area. They are human beings, and with our obligation, we have to coexist.”

Despite their despair, the AG urged the people to go forward positively, reminding them of the many developments experienced over the past three years. He highlighted, also, the many plans and the vision the APNU+AFC coalition government had for the region.