-prosecutions drop sharply
There has been a marked decrease in the number of prosecutions for smuggling of illegal fuel in recent times and the  Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) says it has been finding fewer samples of illegal fuel.

However, according to Chief Executive Officer Mahender Sharma,  there has been an increase in the practice of mixing it with legitimate fuel and this is posing many challenges for the detection system.

In addition, fuel smugglers are putting beehives next to their stash of illegal fuel which in several instances has posed difficulties for the body’s operators.

He was responding to a question from this newspaper at a press conference yesterday called to launch the body’s conservation drive. Sharma was flanked by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who pointed out that there has since been a serious case in which an operator was stung to the point of unconsciousness.

“The programme is very much ongoing…I think that in some measures there is a decrease in smuggling,” Hinds said.
Sharma, however, explained that there was no yes or no answer to whether there has been a decrease but explained that statistically there is a higher rate of  adulterated fuel being found by the body, but noted that the GEA had become more effective at finding the spots where the fuel is being kept.
“They are mixing the illegal fuel with legal fuel and challenging the detection system and it requires a more focused and specific way in how we go about that task,” he said.

The body is working to take samples to its laboratory which would give more accurate readings than the marking system to detect the level of contamination in the fuel.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hinds said the body was continuing  to monitor and identify places being utilized in  the business of smuggling fuel and will prosecute  whenever there is a sound enough case.

The Pomeroon  has been identified as the area where fuel is smuggled into Guyana.