$43M CANU Office commissioned

Jun 14, 2019 News

Yesterday the Ministry of Public Security commissioned a $42.9M three-storeyed office for CANU on Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown.

Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan cuts the ribbon yesterday to declare the new CANU Office open. Looking on are other CANU officials

Cutting the ribbon to declare the office opened yesterday was Minister of Public Security, Khemrai Ramjattan.
Delivering the feature address at the ceremony, Minister Ramjattan said that over the last three years the government has made every effort to make available funds to address the many challenges CANU has been facing in executing its duties.
He said these challenges had required loads of money to effect resolution.
He said that even though Government was a little strapped for cash during this period, more funds are being made available this year to aid CANU in effectively doing its job.
He did emphasize, however, that with provision of adequate funding the Government is expecting more ‘upper level prosecutions.
The Minister noted that Government is more interested in going after the ‘big guns’ (criminal elements) and also targeting and destroying their profits resources (marijuana cultivation fields and heroin distribution high points)
Mr Ramjattan noted that his ministry remains glued to its mandate to ensure that it has an emerging and improving infrastructural layout, especially since the Oil and Gas sector guarantee steady revenue for Guyana.

The sparkling newly commissioned $43 M CANU Office at Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown

He noted that decaying infrastructure creates repulsion, but cited that it should not deter professional and meaningful fight against crime.
In his address, CANU’s Deputy Head, Lesley Ramlall, noted that the Customs Anti Narcotic Unit had a challenging but yet very rewarding year for 2018. He said not only had the Unit through its very effective profiling, intelligence and operations seen a reduction in the smuggling of narcotics (in and out of Guyana), but also benefitted in a great way from Governmental support.
He said this level of support especially in the form of kits, equipment and a vast increase of the authorized strength has impacted immeasurably on the Unit’s intelligence and operational capabilities.
Additionally, this level of support he noted has resulted in the seizure of narcotics, arrest and prosecution of traffickers in some rural and remote areas, and has afforded the Unit the establishment and commencement of operations at other locations as mandated by Cabinet.
This, he explained, has generated continuous improvement of intelligence sharing with local, regional and international partners that led to many operations being conducted in real time, inclusive of the collaboration and timely execution of an operation that resulted in the arrest of one of the main Guyanese narco-traffickers and two of his counterparts in Jamaica.