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saturday, August 24, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com
Cocaine in GRDB rice shipment
Venezuelan caught with fake container seals A
s investigations continue into the cocaine discovered in a Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) rice shipment in the Dominican Republic, a Venezuelan national was taken into custody after he was caught with at least four fake shipping container seals, officials at the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit confirmed. The seals, when checked, matched those that were on the container which had the 69 kilograms of cocaine. Several persons have also been questioned in connection with the cocaine bust, including custom officials. Guyana Times was told that the suspect travelled to Jamaica when the container was there and followed it after he was informed that it had left for the Dominican Republic. Guyanese law enforcement officers are trying to ascertain whether the cocaine was placed in the rice in Guyana. The Liberian-registered ves-
sel was scheduled to leave the Dominican Republic for Caracas when authorities there uncovered the cocaine. Immediately after the discovery was made public, the board of directors of the GRDB had an emergency meeting to assess the situation. Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur on Friday disclosed that his agency was forced to review its operational procedures not only to prevent drugs smuggling but to assure some level of security in the system. Speaking with this publication on Friday, the GRA boss stated that from all indications the normal procedures were followed which meant that when the vessel was loaded, members of the Drug Enforcement Unit were present at the wharf and conducted the normal examination. “Understand these things are loaded onto a ship through a process that hardly permits
Diagnosis
APNU Vice Chairman, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, in response to a question asked about using a task force as opposed to a commission of inquiry, explained that inquiries are held under the commission of inquiry act and have a legal foundation, which gives more strength to
the recommendations being implemented. “The reason we need a commission of inquiry is that so we can arrive at a diagnosis of this entire situation… what we attempted to do really, is establish an objective basis for remediable action until we can get a diagnosis on which we can all agree,” Roopnaraine said. Granger also stated that APNU prefers an independent body to conduct the investigation and make recommendations. He said they do not want an internal task force
through a process and not in container… From the stage where the paddy is loaded onto the trucks to the point to go on a ship, it is conducted in a manner that would give a high assurance that these products are not contaminated with the rice itself,” Sattaur explained. He said large amounts of paddy and rice left Guyana at any given time and it would be virtually impractical for GRA to be involved in every stage. “We use what is called a risk profiling that determines which exporters are high risk which further tells who should be put under greater scrutiny and ultimately whose shipment should be put through a thorough investigation.” That profile system, the GRA boss noted, is based on past experience with the shipper. “I have not done the investigation as yet to determine what profiling we have given this exporter,” he added.
raised by the opposition leader include: violence in school, employment of local teachers, teachers’ behaviour, school attendance, and non-performance of hinterland students. However, the major issue highlighted is the poor performance of the hinterland students. The coalition expressed concern over the problems in the school system, stating that “education apartheid” is materialising. “It is evident that private schools seem to be performing consistently better than public schools. Schools
on the coastland have been achieving better results, on average, than schools in the hinterland. It is evident also that of the 16,811 candidates who sat the NGSA this year, only 173 students who comprised the top one per cent were placed in the best secondary schools. Over 80 of the 173 students were from private schools around the country,” Granger pointed out. The opposition leader further stated that no students from the Barima-Waini, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, PotaroSiparuni and Rupununi re-
gions or the Mahaica-Berbice region were qualified among the top one per cent. Granger said some students performed so poorly at the examinations that they are regarded as “functionally illiterate”. He encourages all Guyanese to work together for the improvement of primary and secondary education. “APNU remains fully committed to ensuring that all children can receive the quality education which will help them to attain the ‘good life’ to which they are entitled.”
The cocaine that was found in a shipment of rice aboard the Liberia-registered cargo ship
thorough investigations to be carried out, because it is sent down a chute… it is also not conducive to have it scanned, because it is not loaded into a container, but rather placed in a truck and some sort of receptacle is used,” the commission-
APNU urges inquiry into... An inquiry is designed to get information, it doesn’t have to have a panel of six judges or cost a 100 million grand,” Granger stated.
er general said. He added that as a result, persons engaged in illegal activities are manipulating the system thus there is need for review. Sattaur added that in the case of this shipment, sources gave information to
the relevant authorities so that they can engage in some kind of inspection, which was not done, noting that when information is given, it is used and ultimately the desired results are garnered. On the other hand, the commissioner general explained that the discovery and the reports have taken him by surprise, claiming that they were not informed directly but via the press. He added that the GRA has the responsibility to check and scan goods, and remains committed to ensuring that all exports are free from contaminated substances, so it has been working with various agencies, including the Guyana Forestry Commission and Fisheries. In response as to why the shipment of paddy was not scanned, Sattaur explained that GRA has a good relationship with GRDB since it ships rice and paddy in bulk. “The shipping is done
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from the ministry, which will likely “sweep the dust under the carpet”.
Student performance
Granger, in substantiating his call, further explained that through Parliament, they can correct these problems in the education system by making changes to budgetary allocations, making calls for policy changes, and ensuring that the necessary agencies are fully staffed and allocations are adequate to help solve this problem. The issues