On August 26 last year, the Minister of Governance with responsibility for natural resources Raphael Trotman told Stabroek News that after the government took up office in May it found evidence of rampant gold smuggling to the United States and other countries and had therefore made tackling it a priority. He added that it was a serious issue of concern as every bit of gold that left undeclared meant less revenue for the country.
While the new APNU+AFC government would have had more formal knowledge of the smuggling when it acceded to office in May, it would have also been well aware of the situation during its service on the opposition benches and from widely publicised occurrences like the heist of gold from a Guyana-registered boat in Curacao in November, 2012.
It is therefore quite startling that at a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Trotman, now the full-fledged Minister of Natural Resources, made the assertion that up to 15,000 ounces of gold per week was leaving the country undeclared. If this is the case, and the minister is in a good position to know, it is an economic crime of monumental proportions and begs the questions: what is the government doing about it and what has it done since May?
If conservatively speaking the government had been aware of this major crime for at least six months and has been unable to make a significant dent in it, the populace should begin to get worried about the capacity of this administration for action. It would mean that the Granger administration and the law enforcement arms of the state have been incapable of prioritising problems and acting decisively on them.
Now that Minister Trotman has proffered this stunning figure of 15,000 Ozs of gold, he and the administration must explain in some detail what steps were taken since May to stem the haemorrhage and why these measures have failed and what is the immediate plan of action. No one will gainsay that the smuggling of gold and other precious metals is an intractable problem and difficult to confront but surely such a vast criminal operation must yield a victory here or there.
Yet, in the six months since the first announcement that gold smuggling would be made a priority there has not been a single interception, arrest or charge linked to this phenomenon. This is astounding. Large parts of the frontiers are indeed porous but it defies belief that an administration that exudes an acute awareness of border issues and has carved out a heightened role for the security forces in the control of the boundaries of the country would not have gathered sufficient intelligence for reining in this gross illegality.
It further defies belief that a government that has taken full control of the security apparatus and allied agencies, replacing key personnel and stamping its authority, would yet be unable to gather evidence, follow the paper trail and shake up this trade.
What has been happening? In the intervening six months the government has provided no information on the state of investigations or the measures it has taken. All that Minister Trotman revealed was that there was a high level visit by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security which one would see as a sign of Washington’s perception of the seriousness of the matter ranged against the absence of results in Georgetown.
If indeed 15,000 ounces per week is escaping the country it is high time that a security emergency be declared, heads begin to roll, that there be tightened up operations at ports of exit and expert assistance be solicited to provide satellite images of likely smuggling zones. There should also have been some evidence of attempts at high-level contacts with Guyana’s neighbours to help tackle this growing problem. The Ministry of Public Security, the Guyana Police Force and the Special Organised Crime Unit have a lot to answer for.
The almost nonchalant manner in which the Granger administration has addressed this serious problem is another major stumble for it. Its thus far clumsy attempt to audit and investigate a series of government agencies for alleged wrongdoings and financial impropriety committed up to a decade ago is now starkly eclipsed by this failure to act and deliver results on the smuggling of large quantities of gold day in, day out while it is in control of the reins of government.
There is a humble Guyanese proverb for this dilemma which says that one should not take a fire stick to see something at night when it is plainly visible in the day. Whether it be five, 10 or 15,000 ounces of gold smuggled per week, the Granger administration has had ample time to define a plan of action and produce results.
