Acting Cabinet Secretary Gail Teixeira announced last Thursday that Cabinet had approved an initial $5M for the commencement of a special fund that will be used to aid fishermen who suffered at the hands of pirates, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
President Bharrat Jagdeo responded to the fishermen’s pleas for assistance to fight piracy when he met with several groups on September 12 and agreed to the creation of the special fund, GINA said.
Teixeira indicated that there will be measures in place to monitor the system.
GINA quoted her as saying that, “You cannot access it unless you’re a contributor, have a licence or are part of the fishermen’s Coop.
They have built in a number of (parameters) to ensure that it is not abused.”
The administration is working on several areas to tackle piracy, including drafting of tougher legislation to make piracy a non-bailable offence and procurement of boats and engines to enhance patrols in Berbice and Essequibo. A radio communication network will also be instituted.
On September 24, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Commodore Gary Best and several officers of the Coastguard made a presentation on the Coastguard’s anti-piracy plan to Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud.
The plan, GINA said further, is aimed at making the Coastguard more efficient in taking preventative action, providing a rapid response capability to any act of piracy and ensuring greater collaboration and information sharing among stakeholders.
