Drug trafficking here distorts the local economy and has been responsible for 30% of the homicides here per annum.
These were among the findings of the United Nations’ Caribbean Human Development Report 2012: Human Development and the Shift to Better Citizen Security. It was the first time that such a report had been done in the Caribbean context.
While the report’s findings about the impact of drugs on the economy and murders is not novel, it adds to growing body of work that a serious problem does exist here and needs to be tackled.
The report which was launched here in October this year focused on seven Caribbean countries including Guyana. No consultation was carried out in Guyana. The data on this country was obtained through public sources and the UNDP Citizen Security Survey 2010.
Drug trafficking was discussed in the chapter of the report that dealt with `Reducing the Contribution of Street Gangs and Organized Crime to Violence’.
Noting that data
