THE Government through the security forces will be increasing surveillance on its borders, Minister of State Joseph Harmon reassured on Friday.

He also admonished citizens to use the established immigration points at the country’s borders it shares with Venezuela, Suriname, and Brazil. Responding to a question posed by the media on the illegal construction of roads leading to Venezuela, Minister Harmon admitted that due to the vastness of the hinterland, roads leading to Venezuela and Brazil are easily and quickly constructed, oftentimes unnoticed.

He said there is a lot of traffic particularly between Guyana and Venezuela and Brazil, but assured that these issues are currently engaging the attention of the National Security Committee and government will soon move ahead with its plans to increase surveillance around its borders.

“We are going to increase the capabilities of our security forces to do active surveillance of our borders and to be able to determine activities which take place there in a faster time,” he told reporters during a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency.

These increased surveillance activities will complement the security arrangement the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force currently have in place at the country’s borders. According to Minister Harmon, the GDF has a heavy presence at strategic locations on the borders Guyana shares with Venezuela, Suriname, and Brazil.

“I want to give the nation the assurance that at the level of the government, at the level of the security forces we have taken some very decisive steps,” Minister Harmon emphasised.
Pointing to the recently held presidential media brunch, the Minister of State recalled calls by the Vice-President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA) Zoisa Fraser for the government through the GDF to facilitate trips for journalists to the country’s borders to allow for a greater understanding.

“It is one which at the level of the government, at the level of the National Security Committee and at the level of the GDF we are willing to embrace. Of course, safety and security are concerns which we must pay attention to when we are going to extend these facilities.

“But clearly, it is in the national interest to have reporters going out there and let Guyanese people see through their lens or through their pens what it is that is happening on our borders,” Minister Harmon said. Nonetheless, Minister Harmon is pleading with citizens and visitors to utilise the established immigration points.