Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee has acknowledged there is an increase in trafficking in drugs through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and other ports in the country; and he has stressed that persons who work at the airport are expected to be exemplars and have “clean hands.”
“They are expected also to be trustworthy and loyal to their profession and employers, and above all, loyal to the country. Any person who is disloyal to their country is paying a disservice to their home,” Minister Rohee told a gathering of airport security officials at the International Conference Centre, East Coast Demerara on July 7. As it relates to narco trafficking, the home affairs minister said that, over the past years, there has been an increase of persons attempting to transport narcotics out of Guyana’s shores. He noted that this continues to be a principal challenge.
A section of the gathering at the port security conference on Thursday
“There is no room for double standards,” the minister stated. As it relates to law enforcement agencies, the bar is raised even higher, as they are expected to uphold the law. “You can’t be in law enforcement and against law enforcement,” the minister reminded the officials. “The airport’s vulnerability can be increased when persons who work at an international airport find themselves acting in concert, in collusion, with persons who are engaged in illegal activities. This exposes the vulnerability of the airport. These are pitfalls we need to avoid,” Rohee stated.
The minister commended the law enforcement authorities, along with management of the CJIA and the Ogle International Airport Inc., for their levels of commitment in ensuring that the nation’s terminals, as well as passengers, luggage and cargo, are safe. He noted that all stakeholders have “a stake to ensure that the airport is kept pure and clean to the best of their ability.”
Passenger safety
Meanwhile, Rohee said that the state’s and passengers’ safety are paramount on the minds of the multisectoral group charged with securing the ports.
The stakeholder group is made up of officials of the CJIA, OIA Inc, Civil Aviation Department and the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU), among others.
Rohee stated that “airport security and safety protection are matters that attract the attention of the government and civil aviation authorities”, as airports continue to be prime targets for conducting of illegal activities.
He believes that while the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and CANU have been doing what he dubbed a good job, there is need for more support from other stakeholders. “CANU and the police cannot be successful in isolation of other stakeholders,” the minister stressed.
He noted that airports, whether international or municipal, are prime targets for persons who are bent on carrying out illegal activities. “That is why it is necessary to put measures in place to prevent them, to stop them, to minimise the use of airports as a means through which illegal activities are conducted,” Rohee stated.
The minister emphasised that Guyana’s efforts are no different from those being done across the world. “It is an indication that the local aviation agency is not a poor cousin of the international aviation industry when it comes to security matters.”
Moreover, he dubbed the security of passengers as of primary importance, as the inflow of same provides much economic scope for the country. “If the airport is not used by passengers, there is no income, no planes coming; no sales take place at the duty free shops,” the minister stated.
He added that, more often than not, people take lightly the threats posed by terrorists. “People tend to think it is an international phenomenon … management of an airport has to be conscious of intended acts of terrorism that could be perpetrated at an airport, thus jeopardising the security of the state.” He noted that terrorism affects both domestic and international airports, and as such Guyana, like any other state, has the right to ensure that all measures are put in place to secure the nation. “So the security of the state is inextricably linked to the safety and security measures adopted to maintain the integrity of the airports,” Rohee stated.
There are approximately 900 persons working at the airport who are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that “the state’s security is not compromised.”
