As a two-day business summit begins today with its Surinamese counterparts and government officials, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) here hopes that a way will be found to curb the smuggling of goods which is hurting the local manufacturing sector.
“We are unhappy about cross-border smuggling. Only one side bene-fits…Guyana is at the bad end,” Chairman for Trade and Investment of the PSC, Ramesh Dookhoo, told a press conference yesterday at the PSC.
He pointed out that there are concessionary goods from Europe in Suriname, as part of trade arrangements there, but that those commodities have been making their way to the shelves of Guyanese businesses without having duty applied and to the detriment of local equivalents all because of cross-border smuggling.
At the conference, which is intended to promote trade between the Guyana and its eastern neighbour, officials of both customs agencies will be brainstorming ways of reducing smuggling.
Dookhoo believes that the Guyana Revenue Authority has a lot to learn from its Suriname counterpart as he said that the latter has a more efficient and structured system dealing with duty-free items. As such, collaboration between the customs departments of both sides will see greater tax yields for both countries.
Executive member of the PSC, Kit Nascimento noted that smuggling reaches to the core of law enforcement issues and needs to be addressed. “It’s a matter of law enforcement because if you can smuggle peanuts you can smuggle other things…,” he said.
The PSC said it will also be using the conference, which concludes on Saturday, to give support for the hastening of the construction of the bridge across the Corentyne River which will link Guyana and Suriname as that too will be integral for trade.
“I am going to put that we sign a joint statement for the hastening of the building of the crossing”, Dookhoo announced.
For its part, the Guyana Government is already preparing to start infrastructural works that are needed ahead of the planned construction of the bridge. The Ministry of Public Works has awarded contracts to the tune of some $913M, to upgrade a road leading to the crossing and for the construction of bridges and culverts on the road route.
The roadway, which spans some 2.8 kilometres from the Molsen Creek Primary School to the bridge site, will be transformed into an asphalt road.
“We have to do these works as part of the bargain on our end, in preparation for landing of the bridge. We have to build the road and culverts and bridges… in the meantime we have to be ready,” Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn had told Stabroek News in an interview.
The river crossing will form part of discussions between the PSC and Suriname’s over 45- member delegation particularly as they talk about increasing the export of goods and services and tourism between the two countries.
Dookhoo said that he will also be seeking an explanation and discussing why it is that Guyanese bus drivers transporting persons across the border to Paramaribo must now first apply for a licence as stated by Suriname’s Ministry of Transport, Communica-tions and Tourism (TCT).
The announcement was made following a protest recently by Surinamese bus drivers who are accusing the Guyanese of taking away their business. However, the Guyanese bus drivers that Stabroek News spoke with said the licence does not apply to them as they do not pick up passengers in Suriname.
A report by CMC on Monday stated that the Ministry made the announcement earlier this month after Suriname’s bus drivers called on the authorities to find a solution to the problem where Guyanese bus drivers transporting passengers to the Suriname-Guyana border now travel to the capital, Paramaribo.
The TCT, according to the article, said it has requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help arrange a meeting with its transport counterparts in Guyana and it has also requested information from the Guyana embassy about what is required from Surinamese bus drivers who want to take passengers beyond the western border.
Two weeks ago, bus drivers in Suriname blocked the road to and from South Drain in District Nickerie, where the Canawaima Ferry berths, protesting the action of their Guyanese counterparts, CMC said.
The bus owners say they have been complaining of unfair competition from the Guyanese drivers for four years and it was time for the government to take action.
The Canawaima Ferry Service began operations on November 1, 1998, transporting vehicles, passengers and cargo from South Drain in District Nickerie over the Corentyne River to Moleson Creek in Guyana.
