Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee has informed representatives of the private sector that draft whistle blower legislation for enactment is being studied at the Attorney General’s Chambers.
They were advised that central government is also carefully studying the matter of regularisation of the illegal ‘Back Track’ crossings on the Corentyne.
These were some of the issues of concern raised by private sector representatives when they met with the task force on fuel smuggling and contraband, chaired by the Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee on March 11, 2013.
A release from the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the private sector organisations that attended the meeting were: the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce; the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association; the Association of Regional Chambers of Commerce which was represented by: the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce; the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce; the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and the West Berbice Chamber of Commerce.
The ministry said that the meeting was arranged as part of the ongoing programme of the task force to meet with critical stakeholders; listen to their concerns about the smuggling of fuel and contraband; accept suggestions from them that are aimed at improving the efforts of the agencies on the task force to suppress the smuggling of fuel and contraband and arrive at practical solutions to address the issues.
Minister Rohee apprised the private sector representatives of the composition of the task force, its mandate and the collaborative efforts that are being made to address the smuggling of fuel and contraband.
The discussions were reported to be frank and cordial on ways to better address smuggling in Guyana.
There was agreement that there was need for greater cooperation and collaboration between the private sector and the task force to tackle smuggling which could potentially harm some private sector businesses.
The private sector representatives agreed to have regular contact with the task force to share information in a number of practical ways.
At the meeting, the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) offered to conduct free energy audits of the private sector’s business places on request, in an effort to assist them in reducing their energy costs.
