Former Chief magistrate and assistant Governor of the Rotary Club of Demerara, KA Juman- Yassin, is calling for the establishment of a drug rehabilitation programme in Guyana that is recognised by the court system.
KA Juman-Yassin
Yassin said that there is no rehabilitation service in Guyana that is recognized enough to allow the court to consider a suspended sentence. The former magistrate said he had been brainstorming about what societal ill has been affecting communities in Guyana the most.
“Is it domestic violence or is it the scourge of drugs? To my mind, the addiction to narcotics is really a major problem in Guyana,” Yassin said. According to him, the problem has been endemic, even in our schools; and age, gender, class or social strata have not been spared the harmful effects of drug abuse.
Guyana’s narcotics laws prescribe that an offender be sentenced to a prison term of between three and five years. However, there is a clause which gives magisterial consideration should a rehabilitation facility indicate that the offender can be reformed.
The former magistrate said that drug abuse is a major problem plaguing Guyana, and he urged national volunteers across the country to embark on a project not only to reform those who are convicted, but to address drug addicts who request help.
“When I was a magistrate on the bench, I tried a lot of narcotics cases. People would come before me for these things. Many mothers came to me and said, ‘Sir, please lock up my son, send him away for three years; I can’t get any peace’”.
Yassin stressed that when a mother begs a magistrate to jail her child, it should send a message to society that something is dreadfully wrong. “They have no peace. These people steal your money, sell household items, and abuse family members,” the retired magistrate related. He pointed out that it is in the interest of government to establish a court- recognised drug rehabilitation centre, but both the past and present administrations have failed to do so. The sole rehabilitation facility in the country belongs to the Salvation Army, but it is subsidised by government funding. Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh has said that government will continue to lend its support to the Salvation Army Drug Rehabilitation Programme, which the institution spearheads.
The financial assistance to that humanitarian organization has since allowed seven recovering drug addicts free access to the programme. The state has pledged to donate a further Gy$5million to the Drug Rehabilitation Programme next year. Two years ago, the Private Sector Commission promised material and financial support to the Salvation Army, after touring the facility which accommodates recovering drug addicts.
Captain Gerald Gouveia, who headed the PSC at the time, had said that while the Salvation Army has been doing an exceptional job in addressing the problem of drug addiction, it is evident that it cannot operate alone. “Our citizens, our brothers and sisters, are victims of this disease… and corporate Guyana has a responsibility to get on board and help the Salvation Army,” Gouveia said.
Comments are closed.