More efforts being pursued to tackle piracy
- Essequibo gets boat and engine
Georgetown, GINA, October 21, 2007
Government remains committed to alleviating incidents of piracy and is making further investments in this regard to ensure adequate resources are available to aid the fight.
On October 20, a boat and engine were handed over to Region Two by Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud for increasing patrols at sea in the Essequibo and Pomeroon fishing areas.
The presentation was made to Regional Chairman Ali Baksh at the Charity boat house in the presence of various officials from the Regional Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, fishermen and other residents. The event was held as part of Agriculture Month 2007 being observed under the theme ‘The Right to Food-A Reality in Guyana’.
The boat and engine valued approximately $1.2M were procured by the Ministry of Agriculture and will be managed by the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society of Essequibo in collaboration with the Coastguard and the Guyana Police Force.
The initiative is intended to build stronger support capacity among the various stakeholders enabling them to better deal with incidents of piracy, an issue that is engaging Government’s direct attention.
Minister Persaud noted that piracy is mainly a law enforcement issue and the Agriculture Ministry is just providing necessary support to explore and implement various initiatives that will help to address the situation which is affecting the livelihood of many fishing stakeholders.
Through the Agriculture Ministry, another boat and engine were previously handed over to the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society of Region Six to enhance patrol.
Various interventions have already been made towards addressing piracy including drafting of An Anti-piracy Bill that will be presented to the National assembly shortly. Additionally, there is an anti-piracy plan being implemented by the Coastguard to improve its response capabilities.
The plan seeks to make the Coastguard better able to act as a deterrent, to provide a rapid response capability to any act of piracy and is expected to ensure greater collaboration and information sharing among stakeholders.
Establishment of a special fund to assist piracy victims and a radio communication network are other activities being pursued by the administration to combat piracy. During a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo and fishermen earlier this year, discussions were held on the need for better communication through radio linkages and enhanced response from the Coastguard.
Ensuring the registration and licensing of all vessels and engines, development of a colour code for each co-operative society, stamping of all vessels and engines unique to each co-op and confirmation of catches sold at ports are some of the ideas that have also been proposed to deal with piracy as deterrents.
The possibility of random patrols and inspection of vessels at sea and ports by the law-enforcement officials are other actions that are being explored.
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