-Minister Rohee urges participants at training session
THE Ministry of Home Affairs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health’s Food and Drug Department and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA, yesterday hosted a training session on dealing with narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and other abused and addictive chemicals. Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, in his keynote address at the event held at the Customs and Trade Administration Building on Main Street, said the move to train relevant personnel in the identification and safe handling of precursor chemicals is timely and necessary.

He said that in Guyana, the use and abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances gained public notice in the 1970s, while the smoking of cannabis became glamourised in certain sections of society, mimicking the social rebellion of the norm and the musical emancipation that has emerged in the Caribbean.

He noted, too, that by 1985 the fad had grown into a national problem requiring the intervention of the state when, in 1988, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act was legislated.

He pointed out that since then, there has been the rapid development of the international drug trade which stretches its cancerous and menacing tentacles across the entire world, the negative impact include corruption of institutions and their officials, drug addiction and its gigantic social cost, proliferation of illegal weapons and development of types of gun crimes the savagery of which was never seen in Guyana before.

Rohee said, “Like termites undermining the structure of good buildings, so do money launderers who undermine the foundations of our economy and the social fabric of our society. Legitimate business cannot compete with those that operate for the purpose of laundering dirty money. No country is insulated against the onslaught of international drug trafficking. It is an international problem that requires an international solution.   We have to think globally and act locally.”

“There are internal challenges which we must confront and solve for ourselves. These are articulated in the National Drug Strategy Master Plan (NDSMP) of 2005-2009,” Rohee said.

A review of this Plan completed in December of 2009 shows that of the 36 programmes recommended, 17 have been completed, 16 have started and are either ongoing or in various stages of completion and 3 have not fully started.

He stated that, among the programmes to be implemented is one requiring Measures to Tighten the Control of Precursors. The Task Force on Narcotic Drugs and Illicit Weapons during several of its meetings has examined the system in which narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances; precursors chemicals are imported, stored, distributed, transported, sold and exported.

Rohee said the Task Force found that tighter controls over the controlled items in Schedule 1- 4 of the Drug Act should be implemented. To address this issue, a system is being introduced that provides police and customs oversight of transactions involving narcotic and precursor importation, sale, use, diversion, records and stocks of the chemicals.

He said, “These measures cannot be implemented when the law enforcement officers are not familiar with the chemicals over which they are required to maintain control. Training to identify the substances for which import or export permit has been issued is now an imperative in illicit drug control.”

Rohee said this level of collaboration is good and already we are subjecting to security scrutiny applications for importation of narcotic drugs and applications for license to sell controlled substances. Our next step should be to sensitize the general public of the precursor items listed in the fourth schedule and of the procedure for their importation and control.

Also making brief remarks was Ministry of Home Affairs, Head Public Sector Security, Mr. Joseph Quamina.

GRA’s Commissioner General, Khurshid Sattaur said the fight against drug trafficking is gaining momentum globally and that in Guyana it is no different. He lauded Government and the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) for taking a proactive role in dealing with this issue.

“This training provides a great opportunity for GRA to fulfill its mandate to promote compliance with Guyana’s tax and border laws and regulations through education, quality service, responsible enforcement and thereby contributing to the economic and social well-being of the people of Guyana,” he said.

The event saw the participation of representatives from CANU, GRA, Home Affairs Ministry, Food and Drug Department, GPF and the task force on Narcotic Drugs and Illicit Weapons.

“Like termites undermining the structure of good buildings, so do money launderers who undermine the foundations of our economy and the social fabric of our society. Legitimate business cannot compete with those that operate for the purpose of laundering dirty money. No country is insulated against the onslaught of international drug trafficking. It is an international problem that requires an international solution.   We have to think globally and act locally.” – Minister Clement Rohee