The Guyana Government on Thursday said it has not received any credible evidence to support claims of Venezuelan military maneuvers or incursions in border areas nearing Guyana.

State Minister Joseph Harmon told reporters there were reports that have surfaced and those were being investigated. However, he said the lack of confirmed information has stalled any move to dispatch official notes to international agencies like the United Nations.

“We cannot approach with hearsay information we have to have credible information on which we can file reports,” he said.

The State Minister made it clear that he was not denying that “things were occurring on our borders” but said the government couldn’t act without first verifying the reports.

“Time is spent verifying the accuracy of reports which sometimes take you down a trail that doesn’t pan out and it is taking up state resources,” he added.

Harmon said anything that occurs on the border is a matter of concern for the government and sought to encourage citizens living in border areas to ensure that they secure material evidence that can corroborate their reports.

There have been unverified reports surfacing online about the Venezuelan Armed Forces conducting military exercises close to the border region with Guyana.

Only last week  Guyana submitted its application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) requesting the court to confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 Arbitral Award regarding the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.

The application follows the decision of UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in choosing the ICJ as the next means of resolving the controversy that arose as a result of the Venezuelan contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899 about the frontier between British Guiana and Venezuela was null and void.

Venezuela has long claimed Guyana’s Essequibo Region and parts of its economic maritime zone.

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