THE impact of the narcotics trade under the People’s Progressive Party rule was felt across the economy and resulted in its distortion, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan has said.

Ramjattan made the comments in an interview with the Department of Public Information. “There is no doubt that the parallel, dark side of the economy under the last administration caused a bulging of the economy, in the sense of people having lots of money on the streets. The bubble had to burst, especially with a principled administration that wanted now to bring that to a halt,” Ramjattan said.

The minister noted that the flood of various types of currencies that entered Guyana, “had to be halted, and it was going to be halted the minute we started catching major drug criminals.” Instructions have gone out to the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and police officers for them to “bring in the big fish, follow the trail!”

He added that some investigations entail a long process, “you just don’t jump on them with the small amounts. Do the surveillance and they have been doing a wonderful job”
“That is how people like ‘Big head’ got caught. That is certainly going to make a big dent into illegal foreign currency coming into the country”.

The minister stressed that the government did not want the country’s citizens to be indulging in cocaine and being a major drug transhipment point. Nothing distorts an economy like drugs money, he emphasised. The absence of the drug-fuelled parallel economy will enable a better picture to be painted about Guyana’s true economic performance, Minister Ramjattan posited, “As to where we must plug our priorities for job creation and all of that.”

He further noted that illegal drugs and the attendant cash flows tend to distort the economy and the government will be unable to make proper fiscal assessments, “When they say the economy is bad, it is bad because we are getting the drug lords, because we are doing good, principled things.” The Public Security Minister warned, “Expect a lot more arrests!”

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Winston Jordan reiterated similar claims that drug money had helped prop-up the economy under the PPP. Jordan, in responding to a Stabroek News editorial piece criticising the current government’s administrative capacity, had stated that much of the government’s current struggles come as a result of the shortcomings of the previous administration.

He expounded that, among other things, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) left behind a “deformed and broken economy”, one which the present administration must now work to fix.
On Wednesday at a press conference, Jordan revealed the sources of his stance on the issue, stating: “Before, I said that there were two or three studies done by Professor Clive Thomas. The evidence had been produced by Professor Clive Thomas. Before I even said it in 2012, a similar statement was made by a high-level official of the PPP and it’s there; it’s reported in a number of newspapers. I went back, I researched it, and it’s on the internet. The name of the individual is there on the internet and everything.”

In continuing, the Finance Minister reiterated his position on the matter, confidently saying: “I will tell you this much, where the economy is today is proof, positive, that the economy was being run by drugs, by significant input from drugs.”