Smuggled goods putting strain on businesses in North West District

Apr 03, 2014 News

Business owners operating in the North West District are complaining that smuggled items are flooding the markets there, causing internal sales to drop significantly.
According to businessmen, the foreign items, including chicken, eggs, sausages, beers and rum are brought from neighbouring Venezuela on at least five boats and trawlers which usually offload shipments at Port Kaituma close to four times a week.

Local businessman, Rajesh Tirbania

Speaking with this newspaper yesterday, Rajesh Tirbania, owner of ‘R’ and ‘S’ Poultry Farm explained that while many of the items still have its Venezuelan label, the chicken is repackaged in Guyana before being distributed.
Since the smuggled items are sold at a much cheaper cost, they attract more buyers, leaving local businesses to suffer.
Tirbania, who transports chicken from Georgetown to Port Kaituma, told Kaieteur News that his sales have decreased more than 65 percent, since the smuggling started in August of last year.
“It’s not just me; there are small scale farmers who rear chickens in places like Mabaruma and Port Kaituma. These people have to buy feed and so, and their investments go down the drain. And feed in them places isn’t cheap.”
Tirbania told this newspaper that while those living in urban areas would pay less than $6000 for a bag of feed, the farmers in the North West District have to pay more than $7000 for the same quantity.
The man believes that the vessels bringing the illegal items may not even be registered to come to Guyana, since there are no names written on them.
“I doubt that they get permission to come here, because with the operations that they going on with, they could be bringing anything and selling it in the Region and beyond that,” the man added.
A businessman from Mabaruma, Region One attested to this, noting that police ranks are aware of the illegal operations, but usually choose not to take action.
“They got to be getting a cut. The police know about wha going on, and yet dem ain’t doing anything about it,” the man said.
He added that something needs to be done, since there are many shop owners who depend solely on their daily sales to make a living. As such, he said many of them feel like their livelihoods are being sabotaged.
“Obviously everybody trying to save an extra dollar, so I understand if customers buy from the people who sell the smuggled things dem, but we also got to look at the fact that we the Guyanese people who investing our money into building they lives getting a rundown. Is nah like we don’t want to sell cheap, we do, but we also got to make a profit. That is how business work,” the man said.
The business people of Mabaruma and Port Kaituma believe that the vessels are operated by Guyanese living in Venezuela, who know the “runnings.”
“The people who coming here, like they know everything. They know how when to come and what to bring and who to get involved in dey illegal business and so,” another vendor from Port Kaituma said.
Kaieteur News understands that there are no customs officers stationed in the Region to check the items that are being brought in. Efforts to contact head of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur, were futile.
However, Rajesh Tirbania said, that he spoke with an official who promised that a team of officers will be sent to Port Kaituma to look into the complaints.
A few businessmen of both Port Kaituma and Mabaruma are calling on the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Agriculture, to look into their plight, and investigate the illegal practices in the North West District.