A CONTAINER scanner, costing some $30M – $40M, is to be installed at the Guyana National Shipping Corporation (GNSC) wharf in Georgetown in a move the government expects will boost export security and cut smuggling. Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, announced yesterday that the scanner aims to make Guyana a safer port in compliance with international security standards and safeguard revenue from potential smuggling and false declarations.
At his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing, he explained that the scanner is a prerequisite for Guyana being certified as a safe port of exit for cargo destined to the United States.
Luncheon said the wharf will have to be upgraded and once this happens, it will help track contents of containers and reconciling this with what is declared in the documents of the shippers or consignees of the cargo.
He said too that the installation of the container scanner will allow Port Georgetown to meet the port security standards necessary for international trade.
Asked whether there would be a user fee for the use of the device, the Cabinet Secretary said cost recovery was not the primary concern, as much as revenue safeguarding and meeting the security criteria for port safety. He said the scanner will be under the control of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
On July 1, 2004, the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code went into effect and Guyana, being a signatory to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention in December 2002, had to comply with the requirements. Member countries were to have in place security apparatus at all wharves and warehouses, such as restriction of access which meant 10-foot high security fences and enhanced security checks for visitors, having threat management plans in place and having a dedicated port security officer.
Ships plying international waters also had to be compliant with the code and this meant that ships ferrying cargo destined for the U.S. from any port had to be scanned, hence the need for the acquisition of the device. (Johann Earle)