Min. Edghill announces MARAD initiative for better monitoring at ports
Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill and Chile Ambassador to Guyana Juan Manuel Pino Vasquez recently held a workshop focused on Port Security, when he announced measures to ramp up monitoring at local ports.
Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill has acknowledged that Guyana’s booming oil sector creates many opportunities for both legal and illegal activities, especially at the borders.
Having said this, the Minister announced new monitoring systems to ensure staff working at ports are not turning a blind eye to any unlawful activities.
“There are a number of new initiatives that we are pondering and deliberating on. And one of the key initiatives that they (MARAD) are talking to me about is ensuring that the people who work at all of our ports are not just cleared by their employer but also cleared by MARAD.”
“We have to prevent the movement of illegal goods through our port…We are working on ensuring that we see everything that happens in all our ports by putting in the necessary infrastructure. We have to ensure that the people who work there are not facilitating illegalities,” he explained.
He went on to thank Chile for their supportive role in this by extending training of practices used in Chile to Guyanese.
The Minister was at the time addressing participants at the opening of a port security workshop on Monday.
This will help Guyana to embrace international best practices, as the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) works to balance regulations, training and enhanced inspections of vessels.
The workshop focuses on Port Security; an issue Edghill said the government has been working on.
“Our government must balance its investment in hardware as well as in human resource development, capacity building institutional strengthening and it is in that collaborative spirit that we engaged Chile in a continuing engagement of the developing of our human resource capacity and strengthening our institution.”
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