More co-operation needed to combat trafficking
Says Coast Guard head
By Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
September 25, 2002
The absence of firm memoranda of understanding between the Coast Guard and other key players needed to combat illegal trafficking on Guyana's seaboard, is a major constraint facing the local marine unit, Commander Terrence Pile of the GDF Coast Guard said on Monday.
"Other agencies are not proactive, they are passive...and this is [a] constraint. The absence of a memorandum of understanding, in terms of collaborative efforts with the Coast Guard so as to work out, in detail, the modalities of our operations [is posing a problem] and I will be calling on those agencies responsible. They have to do their work," the Commander said.
Pile took over the helm of the Guyana Defence Force's marine wing about one month ago and he is determined to make the Coast Guard more effective. One of the ways this can happen, he said, is better collaboration with agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Guyana Geology and Mines, the Central Immigration Department and the Police, just to name a few.
"After the apprehension, Coast Guard would, based on whatever the nature of the illegal activity is, hand it over to the appropriate agencies so that they can continue the investigations and the legal prosecution. Coast Guard's involvement after that is more for our information. We would, to keep our record straight, normally do a follow-up with that agency to find out what has been the outcome of that particular matter that is under investigation," the Commander explained.
He pointed out that for there to be successful prosecution of illegal traffickers in Guyana's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), these agencies need to "kick in". Pile, however, declined to say whether these agencies are handling the matters in a timely manner.
He, nonetheless, offered: "I am quite sure that these agencies have their own procedures, regulations and constraints and they are working within that framework. As far as we can see, we are satisfied that they have been operating within their ambit. Whether it is fast enough, it is really not my call. However, justice should be swift. Sometimes when these matters are dragged out, they can have a greater effect of deterrence. I am not saying that they should take that approach, because every citizen, once found doing anything illegal, has rights under the law also. But certainly, when that vessel is apprehended over an extended period of time, it creates a dent in the operations of that person, or organisation... The legal procedure ought to be swift."
Earlier this month, the Coast Guard nabbed a total of four vessels, two of which were found together to have about 27,000 pounds of mixed fish and other seafood, while the other two were transporting in excess of 15,000 gallons of fuel from Venezuela. The `fuel' boats - Babejana and Reina Del Mar - were registered in Guyana and manned by Guyanese crews.
The interception of the fishing trawlers, Pile pointed out, was not coincidental, since according to him, the operation of the Coast Guard is ongoing. "We have a list of trawlers and vessels that are licensed to operate here in our fishery zone and, therefore, when the Coast Guard patrol is out there, they are aware of which vessels are licensed and which are not. It is pretty easy to detect the illegal ones."
To date, only the crew of the Venezuelan fishing vessels - the Maria Giovanna II and the Marco Polo - have passed through court and been fined. Both captains Gilbert Lorez and Alberto Noya took responsibility for breaching Guyana's Maritime Act. Stabroek News was, however, unable to ascertain the status of investigations in relation to the two boats nabbed with illegal fuel.
Pile did say that information suggests that some of the fuel was meant for an area "somewhere in Region One, possibly the Pomeroon area". He indicated too, that the fuel was also being shipped here to supply possible illegal mining operations.
"Some of it is sold and we have information which leads us to believe that some of that fuel was heading right for port Georgetown," the Commander said.
Apart from illegal fishing and fuel smuggling, Pile said the Coast Guard also suspects that there are persons who contravene the immigration laws.
"They might be transporting illegal immigrants from one country, through our waters, to another country. That is possibly one of the activities, because they [the authorities] have not been able to find a lot of these activities on land and we rather suspect that a lot of these illegal immigrants may be moving on the seaboard. But we have not been able to, as yet, intercept any vessel that is carrying such. There are others - people running uncustomed goods against the customs regulations and there are people who may be involved in exploratory work without the consent of the appropriate authorities. I am sure also that [there is] a lot of the narco trafficking passing through our seaboard. There have been seizures in port and that's an indication that they have been using the seaboard for their operations. Ships are very amenable to such types of illegal activities; because of the difficulties involved in searching a ship, being that there are so many compartments, it is very easy to conceal drugs within a ship. We feel that ships are normally the preferred way of transporting narco substances," the Coast Guard Commander said.
Aside from the absence of an MOU to guarantee better inter-agency co-operation, Pile alluded to other constraints, such as the timeliness of information from local operatives and the appropriateness of the legal action that is taken, which he said at times is not commensurate with the efforts of the Coast Guard.
"There are operators out there who might have seen certain illegal activities... taking place on the water, but getting that information from them in a timely way is one of the constraining factors. Sometimes you would get information, but you are overtaken by events, because by the time you receive that information and the time you take to respond, you come up with nothing.
"But there have been some local operators, primarily in the fishing industry, who have been collaborating with us, they have been very helpful in that regard. The Trawlers Owners Association, in particular, I would like to single out. They have been working with us, they have been very helpful, whenever we call upon them for assistance, whether it would be information, or otherwise, they are always willing, they are always forthcoming in their assistance to us," Pile said.
Up to the time of the interview, Pile said, information indicated that the traffic on Guyana's waters has been routine and legal. Last weekend, the Coast Guard did a reconnoitre of the seaboard to ensure that the area has been cleared of illegal activity.
"That doesn't mean that something cannot happen after that, but our presence at sea and routine monitoring of the area is an ongoing one," Pile assured.