Iwokrama threatens to ban vehicles -as cases of people smuggling surface

Jul 17, 2020 News

Management of the Iwokrama project says that it has come to its attention that there are transport operators who are conducting illegal activities through its forest.
“On June 13, two buses passed with groups of aliens who most likely came from Brazil and this was reported to us. These buses and drivers have been noted.”
On July 6 also, at Iwokrama’s ranger station at Corkwood, the police found three illegal Brazilians on a bus. The bus was turned back and the “illegals” were dropped off at Oasis Restaurant. The bus reportedly continued to Georgetown.
The complaint by Iwokrama in a statement yesterday would come after a worrying spike in COVID-19 cases in Region One and Nine.

Iwokrama says it will work with authorities to increase monitoring activities after it found instances of people smuggling.

“A few days later on a tip, Iwokrama staffers unearthed yet another very disturbing development within the Iwokrama Forest, a secret way of bypassing the monitoring stations and getting illegals past the police at Corkwood and Kurupukari. A few days later, two persons were caught coming out of one of these trails, one Brazilian and one Guyanese. They were handed over to police and the Brazilian has since been deported. Investigations are continuing on the detained Guyanese to assess whether or not he is a trafficker or guide.”
Iwokrama Management said that they were taking this situation very serious as trafficking of illegal persons is criminal and poses a serious health risk to not only community residents but also residents of Georgetown and further afield.
“The COVID-19 health situation is very serious and Iwokrama Management is requesting that transport providers be very careful and that they pay attention to the situation at hand. There is an upsurge of cases now in the Rupununi and most of these are linked to persons crossing the border.”
Iwokrama Management said that along with the Guyana Police Force and the Ministry of Public Health, it will now be monitoring all vehicles very closely which are passing through the forest.
“…and if we find any road users complicit in acts of bringing illegal persons through the Iwokrama Forest or engaging in any other illegal activity, we will be working with these authorities to ban these vehicles from passing through the Iwokrama Forest for at least three months in the first instance.”
The Iwokrama statement said that the Ministries of Health and Citizenship will also be taking action as well so that those passengers and traffickers will be dealt with to the full extent of the law.
“Further infractions will lead to more draconian action including a permanent ban of such vehicles from entering the Iwokrama Forest.”
The Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama Forest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest “in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general”.