Ramsammy to meet with Surinamese counterpart to address piracy

Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said the Coast Guard and police have to work in collaboration with all stakeholders to effectively combat the scourge of piracy.
Speaking with Guyana Times International during a recent interview, Dr Ramsammy noted that the issue of piracy is a bothersome one, and disclosed that he will be meeting with his Surinamese counterpart, Hendrik Setrowidjojo later this month to discuss ways of addressing the problem, among other issues.
According to Dr Ramsammy, fishermen also need to work more closely with the Agriculture Ministry. “There is a suspicion among many fishermen that some of the piracy attacks are being led by, or being contributed to, by other fisherman. This is something that we have begun to seriously address. I want to reiterate that the Ministry of Agriculture can only be an advocate and represent the fishermen’s interest,” he stated.
The minister noted that the Agriculture Ministry is not a law enforcement entity, and has been actively involved in discussions with the hierarchy of the police force and Region Six fisherfolk.
“We are also going to hold another meeting with the Coast Guard and the crime chief, Seelall Persaud and the fishermen to work out some initiatives. What is important is that the ministry has been able to link our fishermen with the police at its highest level and I would hope that would lead to some more targeted action,” Dr Ramsammy said.
He added that “… we want to also urge the fishermen to work with us to ensure that all boats are licensed, unless we have boats that are licensed, we would not be able to monitor movements of the boats and where they travel to.”
Dr Ramsammy said as a part of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification licensing process, it is a requirement that every oceangoing vessel is equipped with a Vessel Monitoring Device (VMD), so whenever it leaves port, it can be continuously monitored.
Dr Ramsammy said too that the ministry is in discussion with a specialised monitoring company to make more affordable monitoring equipment available, but there have been some challenges.
“I am not comfortable that the work of the Coast Guard is as effective; that doesn’t meant that they are not trying, but, it is a huge expanse of sea we have to monitor and if we don’t know where our boats are, it is very difficult for our coast guards to monitor,” he said.