Opposition Party, the People’s National Congress Reform wants the governing People’s Progressive Party and its General Secretary to drop the “slander” and deal with the narco trafficking problem facing Guyana and other crime problems.
In a Wednesday afternoon statement, Congress Place fired off at recent statements by PPP General Secretary and Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee that there is no hard evidence available that could be used to arrest and convict suspected drug lords.
Mr. Rohee said “most of these things are anecdotal. People walk around and say that is a drug lord, that is a drug baron but I don’t think law enforcement could work on the basis of that kind of situation less they make themselves a fool in front of the courts unless they have strong concrete incontrovertible evidence against an individual”
The PNC/Reform on Wednesday said the statement by Rohee is “malicious and mendacious.”
According to the party, in Guyana, alleged drug lords and money launderers “openly flaunt extravagant lifestyles – multiple luxury cars, billion dollar real property without fear of investigation by the Guyana Revenue Authority or the Financial Investigation Unit.”
The party is of the view that “many high ranking Government officials and executive members of the PPP live lavish lifestyles and are the owners of multiple property worth several hundred times their annual public servant salaries and emoluments, yet their “overnight” – new-found wealth triggers no investigations.”
“Instead of engaging in slander, the PPP must say why (since 2000), when the Money Laundering Prevention Act was passed, no arrest has been made; no assets of Drug Lords or Money Launderers seized. The Financial Intelligence Unit has failed to conduct any investigations leading to arrest and no substantive reports have been laid by that unit in the National Assembly”, the PNC statement added.
The Government has been accusing the Opposition of not lending support to the amendments to the anti-money laundering bill because the new legislation will tackle the problem of money laundering. The Opposition parties have indicated that they are in support of anti money laundering legislation but have concerns about some of the powers that will be handed to Government Ministers to deal with the worrying problem in the country.
The Government has often accused the opposition parties of supporting criminals, but has never provided any evidence to back any of its claims. The Opposition parties now want the government to explain its record of not successfully charging and convicting anyone under the current anti money laundering legislation.
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