Since police have cracked down on their other enterprise, cocaine in chowmein, coconut milk and polourie. They resorted to smuggling gold to Curacao, robbing ordinary citizens. Now they seek to raise fund from shippers:
“The importer pays and then the cost trickles down to the ordinary Guyanese in terms of higher prices for imported consumer items.”
Piracy at the Demerara Harbour a major source of concern – SAG
Continued prevalence of acts of armed robbery and piracy on ships at berths on the Demerara River Harbour is a major concern for their organization, officials of the Shipping Association of Guyana (SAG) have said.
An official said that reports of instances of armed persons boarding ships in the harbour, mainly at nights, and stealing ships’ stores and items such as paint and ropes, are being frequently made to members as well as the Harbour Master.
The attacks are mainly surreptitious, but in some cases brazen, executed by men armed with weapons who approach the ships in wooden boats during the hours of darkness.
Some instances , particularly those in which the thieves escape with their booty unnoticed, are not reported to local authorities but shippers often complain at other fora outside of Guyana about their prevalence on their vessels while loading or off loading in the Harbour.
“This gives the country a bad name,” the source said.
The official added that the waterfront piracy also contributes to higher costs for goods brought into Guyana since the ship owners are now recruiting security guards to safeguard their vessels during their stay in the harbour and are adding the cost of security to their shipping charges..
“The importer pays and then the cost trickles down to the ordinary Guyanese in terms of higher prices for imported consumer items.”
The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) is responsible for security of the Harbour.
The SAG is once again calling on MARAD to resuscitate the Maritime Security Committee (MSC) which is currently dormant, to address urgent issues of port security and develop a coordinated response to reduce or eliminate such attacks on ships when they are berths in the Harbour.
