Opposition calls on Government to act decisively to suppress piracy

Opposition Leader Brigadier David Granger has called on President Donald Ramotar to act quickly and decisively to suppress piracy off the coastland of Guyana.

The most recent piracy incident occurred when 15 fishing boats with 19 crew were attacked on 3^rd-4^th February in an area called Kamwatta Beach off the coast of the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region. Pirates escapedwith millions of dollars worth of engines, seines, gasoline, fish and fish glue and destroyed fishing boats. Granger expressed disappointment with the lack of long-term preparedness of various government ministries to protect the country’s fishermen.

Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, so far, seems not to have issued a statement in response to the latest incident or, in fact, about the plague of piracy that continues to affect this country’s coastal and riverine waters.  Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy, answering questions about the safety of fisherfolk, is reported to have said that his ministry has “no jurisdiction on security matters.” Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn under whose Ministry the Maritime Administration Department falls has no means of protecting fisherfolk and could activate the Maritime Search and Rescue Centre to coordinate rescue operations only after the incident had occurred.

The PPPC administration clearly needs to do more. It needs to acquire adequate maritime, surveillance and aviation assets which are necessary to deal with this crime. Neither the Guyana Police Force nor the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard has been given the resources to make our coastal waters safer and to protect the lives and livelihood of the fishermen who must traverse them every day.

Granger pointed out that piracy has been a major public safety problem for decades. There have been scores of reports of attacks all along the coast from the Pomeroon to the Corentyne Rivers. Numerous fishermen have been killed or are listed simply as ‘disappeared’ at sea.

The Leader of the Opposition described the People’s Progressive Party Civic administration’s approach to the problem of piracy over the past twelve years as a dismal failure. He blamed the PPPC’s  weak approach to law enforcement along the entire coastland − from the Corentyne to