…says international assistance in drug fight negligible
MINISTER of Home Affairs Clement Rohee has decried the level of assistance given to Guyana by the international community to fight drug trafficking and announced that arrangements are underway for a new drug strategy master plan.
He spoke while delivering the feature presentation at the opening of a National Conference on Narcotics Trafficking at the Grand Coastal Inn on the East Coast of Demerara.
“As the Minister of Home Affairs, I can see clearly the wide-ranging threat of damage that drugs can cause. It is important to note the significance of Guyana’s geographic location and Guyana forms the bridge that facilitates the access of cocaine from the Andean countries of South America to the Caribbean where drug demand peaks globally,” he said.
“Drug trafficking is therefore a major challenge facing Guyana. It is now common knowledge that the strongest explanation for crime in the wider region in recent years is narco trafficking. People who are involved in illegal drugs are very often the same people who use the infrastructure for many other illegal activities,” Rohee stated.
He said the global patterns of the illegal drug economy are constantly changing as trade routes emerge and develop. He noted that criminal organisations have always looked for new opportunities and to be one step ahead of the law enforcement agencies.
“However, the magnitude of the problem and its scope undermine all other efforts. The profits of the drug trade are being used to support money laundering and terrorism. This provides additional reason why the drug problem should be tackled from every possible angle,” he said.
He said an increasing share of the drugs produced in the region transits northward and the implications of this are multifaceted. “Through consumption, addiction and related crime, it affects public health and security in general. Through its profit margin, it promotes money laundering. By exacerbating and deepening corruption, it can threaten the political stability and national security of any country,” he said.
“Narco-trafficking therefore represents a serious risk to the security of a nation state. In the case of Guyana, the Government has spiritedly [coped] with the multiple threats posed by the illegal drug risks,” he said. The Minister added that while Guyana is doing a lot to deal with this, these efforts in no way can be compared with what is being done in the more developed economies.
The Minister said any effective response to the drug trade cannot be limited to national boundaries. He said only an international response to an international problem can be truly effective. He said the assistance provided for the fight against drugs is a mere pittance.
“The Government of Guyana continues to fight this battle. In this fight, the Government is impeded by the paucity of trained professional manpower, not to mention the technical and economic resources required to effectively carry out this fight…countries with limited means cannot combat transnational traffickers on their own,” the Minister said.
He said that technical and financial assistance from the international community is therefore needed to help Guyana in the fight.
“It is the Government of Guyana’s view that there should have been greater multinational, financial, technical and intelligence cooperation in the implementation of the 2005 to 2009 drug strategy master plan and the more general fight against drug trafficking in Guyana. But this was not to be,” he said.
He noted that despite the lack of assistance, several programmes of that strategy were successfully implemented under the areas of supply and control, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, and institutional and managerial framework.
Arrangements for crafting a new drug strategy master plan have already commenced, and in the interim, further implementation of the ongoing programmes will be present in the new plan.
“The new national strategy may consider intensified activities at the strategic level, including capacity building in all aspects of demand reduction, the provision of comprehensive training for service providers, the development of support and advisory services, and the development of a national protocol for drug treatment and rehabilitation,” he said.
According to the Minister, other priorities for the new plan could include finding a fail-safe mechanism to ensure regulation and the creation of a smaller executive group to oversee the implementation of the new plan.
“Come what may, Government remains firm in its commitment to facilitate law enforcement agencies and to continue their mandate in accordance with the law. The Ministry of Home Affairs will, in the coming year, through budgetary allocations and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Citizen Security Programme, continue to improve police stations, enhance the intelligence driven environment, increase the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the law enforcement agencies, strengthen the operational capability through the acquisition of equipment, improve personnel quality through competency training, and strengthen community [training],” said the Minister.
He added that while many challenges exist, “we are confident that the battle is not lost.”