Unless the government intervenes, the scourge of piracy will continue to eat away at the fishing industry and claim more lives, according to Opposition Leader David Granger, who says that the responsibility lies with the Ramotar administration to ensure that resources are available to the relevant authorities to protect citizens.
In a recent interview, he lashed out at government for failing to provide law enforcement agencies with aircrafts and boats to patrol the country’s waterways and to respond to reports of pirate attacks.
Within the last month, there has been two deadly pirate attacks which have once again inspired fear among the fisher folks. The attacks have also raised questions as to what is being done about the issue.
“This is a serious matter. People are dying… it is sad. It is a tragedy and the government has turned his back. Nobody cares…,” Granger said during a recent interview in which he noted that not only does the government lack the political will to deal with piracy while pointing out that at least seven government agencies have failed to do their part.
Granger told Stabroek News that the government has the major responsibility of bringing the scourge of piracy to an end. He said that it is a crime, the victims are poor Guyanese and without “decisive law enforcement and governmental intervention,” it will certainly not go away and it is quite likely that it is going to get worse. He stated that there are domestic and international implications because some of the areas where piracy occurs may be close to Suriname’s jurisdiction. In most instances, he said, both the victims and the assailants are Guyanese.
“The failure of government to act is quiet baffling,” he said, adding that it is known that in the six police divisions stretching from Barima/Waini in Region One through to the Berbice/Corentyne in Region Six there have been attacks by pirates. From a law enforcement point of view, Granger noted, no single division has sufficient assets, such as maritime craft, to patrol or to enforce the law.
Granger stated that the Ministry of Agriculture (Fisheries section), the Ministry of Home Affairs (police), Office of the President (Guyana Defence Force), the Ministry of Public Works (Maritime Administration), the Ministry of Local Government (the affected regions), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance (Guyana Revenue Authority) are all involved in tackling piracy. Told of the blame trading that Stabroek News had encountered when contact was made with some of these agencies, Granger said that these agencies are afraid. “They can’t face the magnet. The magnet has made this problem an attractable one over the last decade…,” he said, while recalling occasions when he visited some of the affected fisher folk.
He made the point that there seems to be very little coordination among these agencies at present. “There might be some deficiencies of terms of having a single policy position on piracy,” he said, adding that while there is legislation in place, the question of enforcement exists.
The opposition leader opined that to deal with piracy what is needed is a system not individuals. He recalled that previously the government announced that a helicopter would be provided but according to Granger this would not be the aircraft for such a situation. He explained that what is needed is low flying aircraft, which are cheaper and which can be used to patrol a wider area. He said that in this regard land, sea and air intercommunication is needed so as to make the system functional.
“The government must be blamed. Who must do it? The scouts?” Granger questioned, while adding that it is only the government which can protect these people. Lack of resources for the relevant law enforcement agencies, he said, had been an issue for years. He said that it had been discussed over and over and put on paper but “there is no will on the part of the Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Home Affairs to enforce it. It is not want of planning, it is not want of knowing what to do but there is no will.”
He made the point that piracy is a preventable crime that is punishable and could be brought to an end if there is the demonstration of political will on the part of the government, if assets are provided to the law enforcement agencies and if there is better interagency coordination.
Granger noted that the fishermen want help but there is nowhere or no one for them to turn. He said that once pirates see a level of enforcement they would stop.
Agri-ministry’s fundamental role
Stabroek News recently spoke with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, who clearly stated that addressing piracy falls within the remit of the police.
George Jarvis, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, in an interview with Stabroek News said that the ministry’s fundamental role in fisheries is to regulate the sector itself, lend technical support and to help organise the players (the artisan fisher people, members of the trawler association, the coast guard and the police) in the industry so that there could be the greatest efficiency.
He stated that when reports of missing boats come in, officials of the ministry will contact family members not to investigate but to signal that the ministry is concerned that persons working in the sector have been affected. He made the point that his ministry has no authority to investigate incidents of alleged piracy.
He said that if required, the ministry would lend support in whatever way it can. He emphasised that the ministry does not and will not get in the way of investigations of the persons who are better trained to deal with alleged piracy cases.
He said that the persons who are legally empowered to investigate this crime are the Coast Guard and the police.
Asked about the ministry’s plan to outfit the fisher folk with a radio network, Jarvis said that he cannot fully comment on that plan. He said though that most of the plans that the ministry has require the “fisher people themselves to buy it”. He stressed that there is no budget that will allow the ministry to hand out radios to every fisherman.
Jarvis told Stabroek News that what is being done to help now is the ministry is insisting that in the very near future that every boat that goes out to sea will be outfitted with a vessel monitoring device, which will be monitored by the fisheries department. He said that such a device would be able to provide information on the location of vessels at any given time. He said that this is also important because it would allow the coast guard and other authorities to see and identify persons who ought not to be in a particular area.
Asked about this plan, Jarvis said that the Trawler Association has placed such devices in most of their boats. “It is moving along,” he said, while adding that he did not want to quote a number.
Cecil Seepersaud, head of the Agricultural Project Cycle Unit, explained that there are supposed to be about 87 trawler boats engaged in sea bob fishing and about 29 in prawns fishing country wide. He said that the trawlers will be fully outfitted with the monitoring devices. These trawlers are different from the boats that are targeted by pirates. The targeted boats are smaller fishing boats similar to the ones used on the Guyana/Suriname backtrack route.
Jarvis stated that the ministry is also involved in fisheries education in which attempts are made to make the fisher folk understand incidents of piracy are an ongoing occurrences and it is not necessarily strangers who are committing the crimes. “We are continually educating and trying to have people become more aware of what is happening,” he said.
Not business as usual anymore
Asked if the ministry is worried about the continuing reports of allegations of piracy, he said that it is of concern.
Seepersaud, who is also an attorney, said that the Hijacking and Piracy Act came about through an initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture. He recalled that this was sometime in 2008 when there was an upsurge in reports of piracy attacks and this Act was one way to deal with the issue.
He stated that the ministry felt at that point the matter had to be approached differently from how it was previously dealt with. He said that he read with interest comments regarding the police’s reluctance to use the Act in that the alleged pirates were charged with a robbery-related offence, which is easily bailable. Seepersaud told Stabroek News that the act is much more stringent and while offences thereunder are still bailable there are other requirements and the repercussions of a conviction are much more severe.
The officials were questioned about whether there is anything that can be done by the ministry to highlight this aspect of the issue with senior police officials, even though it falls outside of the ambit of the ministry.
Subsequently, Jarvis said that one of the issues that police would face has to do with going into Suriname’s side of the Corentyne River. He said that at the level of Cabinet he knows that the Minister of Agriculture has continuously flagged piracy as a deterrent to the fishing industry. He said that coming out of these concerns, the GDF would have established a floating base in the Pomeroon River. “All that is part of our constant banging at the powers that be,” he said, adding that the ranks would already be there as opposed to having to mobilise persons from another location and transporting them to the spot when a report has been made.
Seepersaud added that the Fisheries Advisory Committee has not been active for the last two years. He said that when this committee was active, the police were represented as well as the Maritime Administration and the fishermen’s co-ops. He said that members would discuss the provisions of the Piracy Act during the meetings of this statutory body. It said it was a forum where issues and various concerns regarding piracy and other matters concerning the fishing population could be discussed.
Asked about the installation of a panic button on the monitoring devices as is being done by Suriname officials, Seepersaud said that the initiative for this has to do with being able to ascertain where the vessel is as opposed to being a security feature. He said that the issue of threats was not the primary objective when the idea of the device came into being. He said that in light of what is happening now, incorporating a security feature will be a considered.
Asked about the implementation of this monitoring device on the smaller fishing boats that are often targeted by pirates, Jarvis said that “it comes down to what the artisan fisher people want.” He explained that the entire fishing sector falls under the private sector and as such the government does not impose. In this regard, the ministry would sit down with players on a particular issue and discuss methodologies that can be used to better the sector. He said that the ministry is prepared to work with the artisan fisher folks to put in place systems that are found to be mutually workable. “People have to want to see how important their safety is,” he said, adding that it needs to be recognised that it is not business as usual anymore.
He added that what also needs to be considered are the buyers of stolen items, such as engines, seines or a catch. He said that these items are not sold to carpenters and plumbers but rather to persons in the fishing circle. “There are persons out there who are themselves continuing the cycle. If there are no buyers, then you would have no sellers,” Jarvis said.
Seepersaud added that the ministry a few years ago attempted to get the artisan fishermen to enter into an insurance arrangement where they would pay a small amount and in the event that their property is damaged or loss, they would have money available to replace them. He said that they were to pay a small premium every month and government was to put $5M into the fund. “This was available to them…and we have very few takers,” he said, adding that this was proposed around the 2008 period.
Both officials urged the fisher folks to make their safety priority. Jarvis advised that they be constantly aware of their surroundings and the people around them. He said that they should also ensure they do not contribute to the cycle by either buying stolen items or turning a blind eye when stolen items are offered for sale.
