— of visiting cricket team in June

Vice President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan on Friday met with Australian High Commissioner to Guyana, John Pilbeam to discuss security related issues.Pilbeam was named as Australian High Commissioner to Guyana in November, 2015, having formerly served with distinction in a number of other capacities for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), most recently as Director of DFAT’s Korean Peninsula and Mongolia Section.

According to a release, at the meeting with Minister Ramjattan, the discussions focused primarily on the issue of the security of the Australian Cricket Team during its impending visit to Guyana in June 2016, where they are scheduled to play two one day internationals.

Minister Ramjattan offered the Australian High Commissioner the assurance that very high priority would be placed on the security of the team while in Guyana and further guaranteed that the Ministry of Public Security was prepared to comply with any specific security request made.

Pilbeam acknowledged that the security services in Guyana were very efficient by Caribbean standards and Minister Ramjattan attributed this in part to the increase in the quantity and quality of training received by the country’s security forces.

Following up on an assurance given by the previous Australian High Commissioner to Guyana, Minister Ramjattan was presented with documents regarding the plans of the Australian Government to deal with issues related to border security.

These documents were: ‘A Summary of the Border Management Programme in Australia’, which dealt with border control issues such as terrorism, drugs, corruption in customs, illegal immigration, refugees, etc and a ‘Defence White Paper’, which was a summary for public discussion on defence issues faced in Australia such as cyber and maritime security, etc.

The Ministry of Public Security will continue to work together with international partners to seek areas of collaboration that will enhance the effectiveness of the security sector in Guyana and maintain the safety and security of the country’s citizenry and of those whom it welcomes as guests, the release concludes.