Guyana is making a decisive effort to tackle terrorism and according to Michael De Feo, an expert on terrorism prevention at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) the country’s excellent method of adopting the international protocols in fighting this crime is commendable.
De Feo and Associate Expert, UNODC, Paul Rabbat were in attendance at the National workshop on the formulation of counter terrorism and inter-American Convention against Terrorism which was held yesterday.
A Government Information Agency (GINA) press release stated that in addressing this threat, the government is committed to designing appropriate anti-terrorist legislation; discouraging operations of sub national terrorist groups on home soil, scaling up intelligence gathering and enhancing security through Joint Services operations and the removal of social exclusion and vulnerabilities that lend to the recruitment of individuals from transnational terrorist cells.
In his address, GINA said, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee stated that while the government is certain that there are no international terrorist groups operating here, the authorities have taken a number of precautionary measures especially in the area of intelligence gathering. Enhanced surveillance and intelligence gathering are being used to detect, disrupt and detain terrorists, he added.
Rohee also spoke about the issue of drug trafficking and the trading of small arms before announcing that Guyana is in the process of developing a Joint Information and Intelligence-sharing system which will enhance sharing of information between governments and law enforcement agencies.
Guyana has so far passed two main laws to enhance the fight in terrorism – the Money laundering Prevention Act and the Anti Terrorism Act.
The Minister informed the gathering that enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism Bill is before the Special Select Committee for review and it is hoped that it will be passed in the National Assembly within the next few months.
