Commissioner of Police Leslie James yesterday gave testimony at the Commission of Inquiry into the piracy attack in which over a dozen fishermen were killed off the coast of Suriname last year May.
As part of his testimony in Berbice, he recommended changes to the maritime and piracy acts in order to better enforce the acts as well as improve the fishing sector. He also stressed the need for aerial surveillance of the high seas.
The commissioner said that it was observed that despite the existence of a fisheries act, a maritime act and regulations “which fisherfolk are required to conform to,” those acts are often breached. “Enforcement campaigning would be carried [out] and persons would be charged but still there would be non-compliance (with) the acts,” he stated.
