…but door ajar for ‘alternative placement options’

AS government moves ahead with its plan to merge the Customs Anti- Narcotics Unit (CANU) with the National Anti-Narcotics Agency (NANA), substantive head of CANU James Singh has been informed that his service will no longer be needed, but the door has been left ajar for alternative placement options.

In a statement on Friday, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, said “I have directed that Mr. James Singh, head of CANU, should proceed on the remainder of his accumulated leave, whereupon he would be given notice of his termination of employ. All benefits consequent thereupon would also be granted to him.”
Upon completion of his leave, Singh would no longer head CANU, but is likely to be reintegrated into the state machinery. The CANU head was sent on leave in March as government moved to revamp its premier anti-drug agency. Head of NANA, Major-General Retired Michael Atherly, has since been commanding operations there.
Ramjattan said too that the recent Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the circumstances surrounding the entry into, the interception, detention and subsequent release of an unnamed private maritime vessel in the sea space of the territory of Guyana, headed by Bruce Lovell, made a number of recommendations, one of which is the restructuring of the unit. “The decision also was taken that this unit will come under the soon-to-be established National Anti-Narcotics Authority (NANA),” he said, noting that “in a scenario where very complex and difficult decisions have to be made, there is need for some amount of reconfiguration and restructuring.” Singh has served at CANU for nine years and as such, the Public Security Minister said he hopes “to engage him on alternative placement options.”
Meanwhile, the move by the administration to extend Singh’s leave comes after President David Granger, who is also head of the National Security Committee, reviewed the report of the recently completed CoI. A vessel was spotted in Guyana’s waters off the Corentyne coast moving north between February 11 to 14, 2017. While in the vicinity of Shell Beach, it was intercepted by local authorities and brought into the Waini River and searched. Though narcotics were not found on the vessel, which was subsequently released, it is suspected that the vessel is linked to a massive high-seas drug bust, which ensnared four Guyanese nationals and netted cocaine worth US$71.7M, 70 nautical miles north of Suriname in international waters.
Earlier Friday, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said the President had given direction to Ramjattan for action based on the findings of the report. “The President has made some recommendations on the report; he has sent the recommendation to the Minister of Public Security for action to be taken. I don’t want to play the hand of the minister, but the minister has been given some clear guidance as to what should be done and I think he is taking action in that regard,” said Harmon. Asked whether any of that action pertains to Singh being removed from office, Harmon replied, “That would be one of the guidance.”
Singh was appointed Head of CANU in 2008 when, following a series of polygraph tests, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government fired the agency’s head Orville Nedd. The government then said that Singh was the successful candidate out of a number of persons who had applied for the job. Singh is the holder of a Diploma in Public Safety and Security Management from the University of Guyana, an International Diploma in Business Management – Cambridge International College and a Diploma in Electronics Engineering from the De Vry Institute of Technology, Toronto, Canada.
Unfortunate
Meanwhile, former Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, believes that the action against Singh is unfortunate, given his “vigilance and professional conduct over the years.” “It is most unfortunate. I believe that CANU has lost a highly professional individual. It is indeed a sad day for law enforcement in the area of countering narcotic activities,” Rohee told this publication last evening at Public Building.
The former Home Affairs Minister noted that the selection of Singh as head of CANU 10 years ago was arrived at after “lengthy consultations.” He said that a number of persons had applied for the post and were considered by a panel which was set up. Rohee recalled that the panel had submitted Singh’s name to the then Home Affairs Minister as the best candidate. Rohee said he subsequently endorsed the nomination and sent it to then President Bharrat Jagdeo. Weighing in on Singh’s performance, Rohee said that: “I think he did a fantastic job. He brought CANU from the doldrums into a dynamic and professional organisation. He managed to mobilise around him, a team of professionals who managed to execute their tasks with great energy and efficiency.”