With cross-border access into Guyana having long been relatively easy, protecting the country’s territory must focus not only on keeping undesirable elements out but also on protecting the population from ‘invasion’ by non-human yet harmful elements that could compromise the nation’s security no less seriously than armed invasion.
Part of the responsibility of, as far as possible, keeping undesirable elements out falls to the Quarantine Department that functions under the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Quarantine Department executes its regulation, facilitation, administration and quarantine treatment at the country’s official ports of entry viz the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Ogle International Airport (OAI) as well as the Stabroek Market Wharf , the Molsen Creek Ferry Service, Springlands, Charity and Parika stellings as well as the various container terminals within Georgetown.
In its recently released 2016/2017 report NAREI reports that a total of 3,489 checks were recorded at these various points in 2017, a number representing 174 percent of the targeted frequency.
