Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee has dissociated himself from a statement from his ministry purporting to have been delivered by him at a customs training course and a probe has been launched as to who was behind the document.
According to a press release sent to the media yesterday from the email address the ministry usually uses, the comments were made at the Second Training Course for Customs Officers on Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances Precursor Chemicals – Identification and Control which was held on Wednesday.
The statement reported Rohee as saying among other things that “the tentacles of drug trafficking have reached into Guyana’s national institutions, with the effect of destroying the integrity of some of their functionaries through corruption or the get-rich-quick-syndrome.”
The statement also reports the minister as acknowledging that the proceeds of the drug trade are being funneled into Guyana’s economy using various methods, “all of which eventually undermine the integrity of our currency, create unfair competition for the honest business community, leading to some going out of business.”
But in a release emailed from the Government Information Agency – and not from the Home Affairs Ministry – last night the ministry said that Rohee “wished to disassociate himself from the contents of the said document, since as far as the minister is concerned he never made those remarks while addressing the opening session of the Customs Officers’ Training Course.”
Further, the release stated, a careful review of the recording of the minister’s presentation revealed that he ad libbed and “never used language reflected in the document purporting to be his remarks.”
“Investigations are currently underway to ascertain from where the document was released and who authorised its release,” the statement concluded.
